Airsoft is an extremely interesting sport that is very popular with both children and adults alike. Part of what makes airsoft so intriguing is its highly realistic look and feel of actual weaponry without the real potential of death or serious injury. Many of the airsoft pistols and rifles look so much like actual guns that they cannot be identified as toys, except for the bright orange tip that is required by law. This makes airsoft pistols in particular, a great tool for training for men and women in law enforcement. With the comparable dimensions, weight, look and feel of an actual handgun or rifle, the officer in training is getting a great idea of what using the real thing is all about.
Due to their close resemblance to actual handguns, officers can holster the airsoft guns just as they would a real one, and can pull and fire just like a real weapon as well. Gas airsoft pistols have the advantage over spring airsoft pistols here because they can actually recoil after firing, just like a real gun. These guns are called blow-back guns, which mirror the recoil of the real thing. Of course, it goes without saying that the recoil you feel when firing the airsoft pistol will be substantially less than firing an actual handgun, it does help to mimic the same action, helping officers in training get used to the motion.
Now, you may be thinking, why use airsoft to train, when you can do target practice with the real thing? Well that is a good question. But think about higher end police training, such as running scenarios dealing with sociopaths, or terrorists, kidnappings, or any other high end thinking situations. Situations like these demand a realistic training environment, where real people pretend to be the offenders or kidnapped parties, while the training officers have to move and think through the situation. You definitely do not want to have real bullets involved with this kind of training! So you see, any one of these training operations listed is excellent situations in which airsoft pistols are the perfect tool for the job.
While airsoft usually involves small, plastic BBs, there are actually 6mm paintballs that can be used in lieu of the typical plastic BBs. So during these training exercises, you can still get the splat of a paintball to accurately identify where a team member has been hit, as well as getting the real life action of the airsoft gun. Another great advantage of using airsoft pistols for police training is that they are much less expensive than paintball guns or other handguns used for training. It is easy to see how airsoft pistols can be the perfect tool for police officers and other members of law enforcement in training situations.
