Airsoft is a military/law enforcement sport simulation, where players participate in a mock style combat with military like weapons and tactics. Firearms are 1:1 scale models of real firearms. A typical example of an airsoft firearm is: firing 6mm or 8mm spherical, solid plastic BBs of usually .12, .20, or .25 grams, with propulsion for the projectile provided by manually compressed springs, compressed gas, or electric motors.

Airsoft as a sport is extremely popular in eastern Asia, in Japan, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. This popularity is a result of real arms being difficult or impossible to obtain because of local laws. For this and other reasons the vast majority of Airsoft guns, accessories, and aftermarket upgrade parts are made in Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea. For a while it was rumored that Airsoft was made illegal in Mainland China. That is just a rumor though as it is actually very legal and extremely popular.

The popularity of Airsoft is starting to grow in the West. Especially in countries like the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Finland, Italy, Belgium and Denmark. Starting in 2003 Daisy once again started marketing airsoft guns for sale in the US, under their "Powerstrike" brand name. Trying to get in on the expanding market, Powerstrike and other competing models have started to appear in mass across the US. The Internet auction site, eBay, has noticed the increased interest in airsoft products as well, and as a result has created several categories specifically for the thousands of listings of airsoft gear and guns.

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