The issues that refuses to die down, and it should not until the issue is resolved to give a clear ruling or set a standard set of procedures of how the importation of airsoft guns are treated by the Customs and the ATF as the same airsoft rifles are released in other ports in the USA, and many airsoft retailers are still selling the same things without any legal issues whatsoever.

The ATF-Tacoma is in a bind here, as with requests for information by Pajamas Media under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), they tried to but failed, in providing the documents related to the ATF's insistence that the seized WE Airsoft Gas Blowback Rifles imported by Airsoft Northwest can be converted into assault rifles that can have "devastating implications."

As Pajamas Media reported, the ATF surely indeed released some documents to them, but what they provided was:

• Sigma Airsoft silencers (not WE Tech Airsoft rifles) seized in Phoenix, AZ (not Tacoma, WA) in 2004 (not 2009-10)

And these documents were entirely related to their requests, as they specific request of Pajamas Media is in relation to the seized imported guns of Airsoft Outlet Northwest:

Documentation relating to the determination… [C]opies of written documentation and video or photographic evidence showing how ATF technicians were able to convert the lower to fire real ammunition, and information of what occurred when the converted weapon was fired. … [C]opies of email and print communications within the ATF regarding this issue, and copies of email and print communications between ATF and CBP related to this issue.

Has the ATF read the actual request? Or avoiding such a request in releasing the document(s), even if redacted, as what they released is totally unrelated to the issue:

But they do not help us in the least when it comes to understanding the ATF’s determination that the WE Tech Airsoft rifles still being sold openly around the country  are easily converted into fully automatic machine guns, and at a fraction of the cost the U.S. military pays for the real thing.

But there is some light already showing at the end of the tunnel:

Hope is not lost for Airsoft Outlet Northwest, however. The government recently released some of the $20,000 in inventory they’d seized, including 15 other Airsoft machine guns made by WE Tech and 20 bolt-action Airsoft guns. Perhaps with some patience — and a bit of tenacity — the ATF and Customs can finally be convinced to return these toys to their rightful owners.

Though, the matter should be resolved, since if ATF cannot prove that the seized WE airsoft rifles can be converted into real steel assault rifles as they have said, then they should put into place guidelines on how these airsoft imports are treated. Funny as it may seem the latest report by Pajamas Media, it is not funny to airsoft retailers, especially Airsoft Outlet Northwest, as their money and livelihood, through lost business, affect their very lives in these tough times.