Dangers to Humans

Airsoft pellets typically leave small welts on human targets. While mildly painful, pellets aren't especially damaging to the skin. Eye protection is universally required to prevent damage to eyes. It is also often recommended that face masks be used during airsoft matches to protect the players' teeth as on very rare occasions players have had teeth chipped or knocked out by a well-placed pellet. The pellets can easily punch through a fizzy drink can.

The following excerpts are from the UK Parliament's "Principles of firearms control", Home Affairs Select Committee Second Report, 6th April 2000, expound on the level of danger involved with low-energy projectiles:

"The Firearms Act 1968 defines a firearm "a lethal barrelled weapon of any description from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged". In this context, a "lethal weapon" means a weapon capable of firing a projectile with sufficient force to inflict more than a trivial injury, i.e. with a force sufficient to puncture the skin. The force with which a firearm is able to deliver a projectile is normally expressed in terms of the kinetic energy it generates at its muzzle - the "muzzle energy". This force is normally expressed in units of foot-pounds (ft·lbf) or joules (J).

The Home Office and the Forensic Science Service considers that the lowest level of muzzle energy capable of inflicting a penetrating wound is one foot pound force (1.35 J); below these power levels, weapons are incapable of penetrating even vulnerable parts of the body, such as the eye". However, more recent analysis by the Forensic Science Agency for Northern Ireland has indicated that a more reasonable assessment of the minimum muzzle energy required to inflict a penetrating wound lies between 2.2 and 3.0 ft·lbf (3 to 4 J)."