Staff Photo by Jake Daniels/Chattan ooga Times Free Press
Blake Lee, 12, and teammates Jordan Chafi, 12, Sam Banhook, 12, and Jacob Dillon, 13, get ready for an airsoft game. Players gathered at the High Point Airsoft Facility in Chickamauga, Ga., to shoot it out with combat-style BB-guns.Airsoft weapons may supplant paintball equipment this year as the Christmas gift of choice among gun lovers, store owners say, as generational and economic changes shift consumers toward airsoft, which uses realistic-looking guns that shoot small plastic BBs long distances.
Sales figures at Airsoft Tactical on Ringgold Road have exploded over the last two years, and participation at tactical airsoft events has doubled, store owner Mike Johnson said. Because distributors can’t keep up with demand, he’s had to set up a system to share inventory with a friend who owns an airsoft store in Nashville.
“Sales are up 300 percent over the last two years,” Johnson said. “We went from selling 15 guns a week to selling 100 guns every week.”
Meanwhile, sales at Insane Paintball off Amnicola Highway haven’t fared as well, said salesman Lee Bomar.
“There are a lot of people playing paintball, but as for buying their own equipment, those sales are down,” Bomar said.