37/40mm Launcher

[rrc1962]

Are these things legal? I see them at the gun shows, but have never stopped to investigate. I don't think it was an Airsoft product because the dealer that sells them has no other air gun products. Depending on price, one of these with beanbad or foam baton rounds could be a good less than lethal option.

I'm thinking these are class 3 weapons since there is anti-personnel ammo available, but if that were the case, they wouldn't be at the gun show.

[KimberPB]

They are completely legal to own. I've even looked at a few for my AR. Like you said you can get less then lethal round, smoke rounds, ect without any extra paper work.

If I understand how it works correctly, if you want to the HE rounds for it that’s were the paper work comes in. First, each rounds expensive then you have to pay the tax stamp for each round to the ATF. So the launcher itself is not a class 3 weapon.

[rrc1962]

This place sells the launchers and ammo. Pricey ammo at $30+- per round, but it's not something you'd take to range anyway. I'd probably budget for 4 or 5 practice rounds. They require authorization and and ID to buy ammo, which I suppose is just a precaution and not something required by law. After further investigation it seems that neither the launcher or the HE ammo is class 3, but combination of the two is.

They also have rubber ball rounds. Looks like those could be quite effective. I don't think foam baton rounds would stop a real criminal.

Defense Technology Bean Bag Round, 40mm