Well, blow me…
Is a blowpipe a firearm?
Probably, but I don’t think that’s what the legislators had in mind! A firearm is defined as a lethal barreled weapon from which any shot or missile can be fired. A blowpipe certainly has a barrel. Lethality is defined as a muzzle energy of 1 joule (.74ftlb) and you can probably achieve that with a good puff. You can also discharge a missile from it. This typically might originally have been a dart coated in some toxic substance. Depending on how old it is, it might benefit from antique status.
David says: