Reply #51: I can't specifically identify Mr. Moran, but I know that air guns have been used in a few crimes

[slackmaster]

Muzzle velocity is only one factor in the amount of energy sent downrange by a projectile weapon. It's an important one (Kinetic energy = MV^2), but the mass of airgun projectiles is a small fraction of that of the least powerful firearms in common use; there is a significant gap between the upper limit of one and the lower limit of the other.

We've had one or two people in the Gungeon calling for limits on the energy delivered by firearms, but they've never been able to articulate why some arbitrary amount of kinetic energy constitutes a problem that calls for some kind of government-imposed restriction.

My compressed air-powered potato gun has a 1.5 inch bore, and I believe if you did the math you'd find that it sent more energy downrange than most firearms. I pump it up to about 150 PSI with a bicycle pump, the air chamber is a 4-foot section of 1.5 inch ID pipe. But because the projectile is soft and the energy is spread over a wide area, it does relatively little damage (except when it's loaded with an ice round).