Generally Yes.
In the truest sense of the definition of "automatic", no a bb gun cannot be automatic. In function, however, a BB gun can be automatic. A good example would be the Drozd BB gun which fires full automatic, but used CO2 as the power source.
The IZH Drozd is a full auto BB gun.
Both are powered by Air or CO2. But a bb gun fires a bb. (.177 caliber) BB guns and Rifles traditionally have smooth bore barrels. Air Rifles (I assume you are asking about Pellet firing air rifles) fire .177 pellets usually through a "rifled bore barrel" giving the pellet more spin and causing it to travel straighter. Pellet Air Rifles come in .177 cal, but also come in 20, 22, 25, 45 and 50 Caliber pellets. They tend to be more powerful than the bb rifles. Crosman, Daisy Beeman and RWS are just a few of the air gun makers who make bb guns and Pellet Air Rifles.
No, They were invented long before him. He invented the first Model Daisy BB Rifle, but BB rifles where around before that. Lewis and Clark carried an air rifle with them and the Austrian army had air rifles in the 1500's
Only if the gun is designed for BB's. Some air rifles are designed to shoot either. Usually they are the multy pump design like the Crosman 760 or the Daisy 880, but air rifles will say right on the barrel that they are designed for .177 cal pellets or .22 caliber pellets and these rifles or guns should not use BB's. BB's will damage the rifling in the barrel.
Yes, it's better than most other BB rifles. It shoots both BB's and Pellets.
It all depends on where you live. You will have to check with the local law enforcement to find out. But I will suggest this. Don't hunt with a BB gun. It's not designed for that. BB's don't deform when they hit a target and will cause the animal to suffer and may not kill it right away. Pellet rifles accommodate hunting pellets, they deform and make a quick kill. BB guns and rifles are designed for target practice and plinking.
All BB guns are alot less in (Strong) than Pellet guns. BB guns are luckey if they can attain 600 FPS (feet Per Second) Pellet guns & rifles can attain 1450 FPS. The fastest and most powerful BB gun I know of is the IZH Baikal Drozd that fires at 541 FPS. The Evanix AR6 Pellet rifles fires at 1450 FPS.
Yes. In years past these automatic BB machineguns operated off compressed air which is how they were able to operate in an automatic way. Have not seen such auto BB guns in many a year........
yes
Yes, you can ship semi automatic bb guns to new zealand but not fully automatic ones
Yes! But it will suffer. BB's are a poor hunting choice for hunting. Pellet guns and rifles are more humane.