Rep. Mullin moves to treat BB and pellet guns like firearms

U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin introduced legislation Friday that would redefine certain BB and pellet guns as firearms under federal law.

The California Democrat’s bill, called Garrett’s Law, would force buyers of high-powered airguns to pass the same background checks already required for AR-15s, 9mm pistols, and other conventional firearms. Breitbart News reported the measure aims to close what Mullin calls a “dangerous gap.”

Mullin’s office framed the change as a response to one constituent’s death. Garrett Edwards struggled with mental health during the pandemic and was already barred by law from owning a firearm. He later bought a lethal airgun online and used it to take his own life.

In its press release, the office stated the purpose plainly.

“Garrett Edwards, a constituent of Rep. Mullin, struggled with mental health during the pandemic and was prohibited from possessing a firearm by law. Yet, sadly, when his condition worsened, Garrett legally purchased a lethal airgun online and used it to take his own life. To prevent similar tragedies, Garrett’s Law would close this dangerous gap in federal law by designating high-powered, lethal airguns as firearms.”

That language turns a personal tragedy into a fresh regulatory push. Airguns that meet certain power levels would suddenly fall under the same federal rules as powder-burning guns.

What the bill would actually cover

Daisy BB Guns flagged the practical reach in an X post. The company said the bill would include models like the Daisy 880 and treat airguns producing “high velocity” as firearms.

Specifically, it would add all airguns that produce 800 or more feet per second in.177 caliber, plus all pellets over.25 caliber. Daisy warned the long-term goal appears to be folding in every airgun.

Buyers who today can purchase those products without a federal background check would face the full National Instant Criminal Background Check System process. The same process that already applies to rifles and handguns.

March for Our Lives endorsed the bill. Gun-control groups moved quickly to back the redefinition.

House Democrats have shown a pattern of prioritizing partisan investigations and messaging fights, as seen when House Democrats mapped out probes of the Trump administration in hopes of regaining power.

Here the focus lands on airguns that have long sat outside the firearms definition in federal statute.

Gun-control groups cheer the expansion

Emma Brown, executive director of GIFFORDS, praised the introduction. She called for quick action.

“We’re glad to see Rep. Mullin introducing this legislation to create basic guardrails for these previously unregulated weapons, and we urge Congress to swiftly pass it.”

Mullin’s office described the current lack of background checks on BB and pellet guns as a “loophole.” The bill would erase that distinction by redesignating the products themselves.

That approach skips harder questions about mental-health enforcement. Edwards was already prohibited from firearms. The airgun purchase happened outside that restriction. The proposed fix expands the definition of “firearm” rather than tightening existing prohibited-person rules or improving crisis intervention.

Similar Democratic maneuvers have drawn scrutiny before. Lawmakers have admitted problems only to block practical fixes, much like when Democrats called a New Jersey voter-roll failure “horrible” then blocked the remedy.

Airgun makers and lawful users now face the prospect of federal paperwork for products long treated as sporting goods or youth training tools.

Industry sees a wider net

Daisy’s warning goes beyond one model. The company said the thresholds would sweep in common high-velocity airguns and that the trajectory points toward regulating all of them.

If the bill advanced, retailers selling those products would have to run background checks. Online sales of qualifying airguns would face the same hurdles as shipping a handgun.

No bill number or full statutory text beyond the “Garrett’s Law” label appears in the available details. No co-sponsors are named. The introduction itself is the confirmed action.

Democrats have retreated from other high-stakes fights when the political cost rose, including when Democrats backed down on a shutdown threat and handed Republicans a clear win.

Whether Garrett’s Law follows that path or advances remains open. What is clear is the mechanism: redefine the product, then apply the existing firearms regime.

Accountability and the next step

Mullin presented the bill as compassion for a constituent family. The text, however, creates a new category of regulated items based on velocity and caliber cutoffs supplied by industry itself in its critique.

Lawful owners of air rifles used for pest control, target practice, or youth marksmanship would enter the federal background-check system for the first time. Prohibited persons would still need enforcement of the existing bans that already applied to Edwards.

House Democrats have kept other partisan efforts alive even after clear defeats, such as when 147 Democrats tried to keep a Trump impeachment resolution alive after the House voted it down.

The airgun bill follows the same impulse to enlarge federal reach. Background checks for powder guns already exist. Extending them to airguns that meet 800 feet per second or.25-caliber thresholds simply moves the line.

Taxpayers and lawful residents live with the results of every expansion. When Congress rewrites definitions to capture more products, the compliance burden falls on ordinary people who never broke the law.

Freedom shrinks one redefinition at a time.