Below are the laws and ordinances that the city of Indianapolis, Indiana has regarding airguns, BB guns, pellet guns or airsoft guns:
Sec. 451-2. – Firearms generally.
(a) Within the police special service district, it shall be unlawful for any person to fire off, shoot at another person or otherwise use any dangerous weapon for any purpose other than in defense of his life or the life of another person, or the protection of his property or property entrusted to him by another person, or for practice at a range under the supervision and operation of a governmental entity, or without the prior written approval of the chief of IMPD.
(b) This section shall not apply to the United States Army, Navy or other armed forces, the National Guard, or to any duly constituted and authorized law enforcement and peace officer of any governmental unit, or to manufacturers and to repair facilities for testing purposes within a private range.
(Code 1975, § 20-187; G.O. 13, 2016, § 14)
Sec. 451-3. – Discharge of weapons across public ways.
It shall be unlawful to shoot across or upon any public street or place, or toward a public way from any private premises, any bullet, pellet, missile or object impelled from any gun, pistol or weapon operated by means of any explosive charge, or by springs, air pressure or other means, or impelled from a slingshot, or any other device having force directed by the user thereof.
(Code 1975, § 20-188)
The state of Indiana does not define air guns, BB guns, pellet guns or airsoft guns as firearms:
Title 35, Article 47 of the Indiana Code. Article 47 defines “firearms” as “any weapon that is capable of expelling… a projectile by means of an explosion.”
Airsoft & BB-Pellet guns, which are powered by compressed air, are not regulated by the state gun laws.
Indiana does have laws against taking airguns, BB guns, pellet guns and airsoft guns onto state park grounds and reservoirs:
Any firearm (except validly licensed handguns) BB gun, air gun, CO2 gun, bow and arrow, or spear gun in possession in a state park must be unloaded or un-nocked and stored in a case or locked within a vehicle, except when the owner is participating in an activity authorized by written permit.