ATE does not recognize air rifles that shoot arrows
 

**Should say ATA, not ATE****

http://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/ar...ent-on-airbows

the ATA certainly recognizes the airbow to be an innovative piece of shooting equipment, the airbow nevertheless lacks basic components of standard archery equipment (e.g., a string system and limbs). For this reason, the ATA does not consider airbows to be archery equipment.

In addition, the airbow (unlike archery equipment) is not subject to federal excise tax, the basic funding mechanism for state wildlife agency activities, which means no portion of the proceeds from airbow purchases contribute to the state wildlife conservation activities supported by Pittman Robertson funds – at least not to the ATA’s knowledge. As a consequence, airbows do not appear to be treated as archery equipment by the Internal Revenue Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The fact that there are no excise taxes on those things laughingly called "air bows" is a good thing. That way paying the excise tax cannot be used as a lever to get states to allow them to be legal for hunting. They are air guns and arrows, not bows by any stretch of the imagination.

Correct, a stock, a trigger in a trigger guard, a safety and a scope coupled with stored energy, recoil felt in the shoulder and no human effort to hold a string back means its not archery and its not bowhunting. Its users could not be bowhunters.

An interesting concept for sure and probably a lot of fun. But by no means something that should be even considered as archery equipment and used for hunting.

Agreed. As someone who spent most of his career in technical writing, I have a major problem with Benjamin's ridiculous use of the word "bow" in the name. If they called it what it is (an ArrowGun or similar) and stopped trying to push it as some sort of an archery device, then I wouldn't mind so much.

It's not even legal in my state for hunting, period. Is it legal at all where you guys live?

Not in PA and I am pretty sure it will stay that way.

Airbows
It is unlawful to hunt using an airbow during any season for any species in
Michigan at the time of this digest’s printing!

Edit: I wonder how many poachers will pick up on this quiet new way to illegally take a deer!

I heard that it's pretty loud.