Daisy Air Rifle Comes Under Fire

With less than two weeks left in her tenure as chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Ann W. Brown wants to take a parting shot at an American cultural icon, the Daisy air rifle.

Spurred by concerns that high-powered air rifles made by Daisy Manufacturing Co. are unsafe, Brown is aggressively pushing for a recall that could affect as many as 9 million rifles, industry officials estimated.

The recall would apply only to high-velocity rifles that are far more powerful than Daisy’s Red Ryder model that many boys grew up with. However, gun industry officials said they feared any such action could lead to an even wider recall, probably of the 20 million high-velocity guns made by all manufacturers and perhaps of all BB guns, which number more than 100 million.

CPSC officials declined to discuss Brown’s effort Friday. But industry sources said the agency’s staff is concerned about the gravity-loading features, the lack of any automatic safety mechanism and the silver color of the BB, similar to the color of the inside of the gun, which might lead users to think the gun isn’t loaded when it is.

“The [safety defect] allegations the CPSC is looking at are not unique to the Daisy product or to high-velocity rifles,” said Lawrence Keane, vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents manufacturers and ammunition suppliers. “The alleged defect pertains to virtually every single air rifle ever made.”

It is unclear whether Brown, a Democrat, has the support of the other two commissioners, Democrat Thomas Moore and Republican Mary Sheila Gall.

They are due to meet Tuesday to consider the matter privately and then vote on it Oct. 30, a day before Brown leaves office.