Just a week ago, local New York City media reported about an incident that involved airsoft. A YouTuber armed with an airsoft gun was arrested for filming on the rooftop of a senior center in Brooklyn.

According to CBSN New York, the suspect was spotted before 11am on March 3 all dressed in black and armed with what looked like to be an assault rifle on the rooftop of a Rogers Avenue apartment building which was identified to be the Fort Greene Grant Square Center and it is a retirement center.

Responding police quickly cordoned off the block, completely surrounding the building and positioned snipers in nearby buildings. NYPD policemen went to the rooftop and apprehended the man who was brought down to a squad car in handcuffs. Luckily, no shots were fired.

The CBSN further reports that the suspect has his own YouTube Channel, which goes by the name “Chairman Cat”. Items recovered from the scene are airsoft guns and multiple cameras that the suspect used in filming his scene.

New York City is strict in airsoft guns and generally, airsoft guns cannot be sold in the city and they should have the required markings according to Airsoftaculous:

2. “Imitation weapon” means any device or object made of plastic, wood, metal or any other material which substantially duplicates or can reasonably be perceived to be an actual firearm, air rifle, pellet gun, or “B-B” gun; unless such imitation weapon

(a) is colored other than black, blue, silver or aluminum,

(b) is marked with a non-removable orange stripe which is at least one inch in width and runs the entire length of the barrel on each side and the front end of the barrel, and

(c) has a barrel at least one inch in diameter that is closed for a distance of not less than one-half inch from the front-end of its barrel with the same material of which the imitation weapon is made. “Imitation weapon” does not include any nonfiring replica of an antique firearm, the original of which was designed, manufactured and produced prior to eighteen hundred ninety-eight.

Also, there other restrictions if you own an airsoft gun and live in the city as explained in the same Airsoftacolous post:

You should not use your airsoft gun in public places like parks or public places
You should not expose your airsoft gun in public
Never bring an airsoft gun to a school
Never act irresponsibly with your airsoft gun whether in public or private.

Airsoftaculous further explains that if you do not mark your airsoft guns properly as a toy gun and not a firearm can get you into really serious trouble:

The penalties range from 4th-degree criminal possession of a weapon that carries up to 1 year in jail to first-degree criminal possession of a weapon that carries up to 25 Years in Jail.

The person caught already has violated one important tenet in airsoft safety: do not show your airsoft gun in public. Even if it is for the purpose of doing a short film to post on YouTube, precautions should be taken, like the way film and television crews do when they will be filming with gun props --- coordinate with the local authorities so as not to alarm the public.

In a nutshell, this YouTuber is in really deep shit.

The YouTuber is extremely lucky that he didn’t get shot by the responding NYPD officers. In the U.S.A. there are cases in which people caught with airsoft guns in public get seriously injured or fatally shot by responding police.

USAirsoft and AsianwithHat give their thoughts on this incident:

Always remember not to show your airsoft gun in public. You can always transport safely your airsoft guns by using gun bags on your way to an airsoft facility. You can only use your airsoft gun at a game site or inside private property that won’t alarm neighbors. Having the police surround you will surely ruin your day or worse, your life.