Toy Guns Are Illegal??

[MA-Caver]

Well maybe not just yet but by gosh they're gonna try to.

Bills seek punishment for use, display of fake weapons
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080503/ap_on_re_us/fake_gun_control
By LUCAS L. JOHNSON II, Associated Press Writer Sat May 3, 2:01 PM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Concerns that realistic-looking toy weapons are confusing police and threatening safety have led 15 states to try going beyond gun control and cracking down on fake firearms.
Officer Micheal Hoover knows a fair amount about guns as a sniper instructor for a Tennessee SWAT team. He recalls the night two years ago when a car pulled up beside him on a highway and the passenger waved what looked like an Uzi.
"It scared me," he said. "If anyone is in their right mind, I don't see how it wouldn't."
Hoover was off duty and called for police help. A 20-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault after police found a black plastic Uzi submachine gun under the car's passenger seat, but he was acquitted because jurors felt the officer should have been able to tell it was only a toy.
Lawmakers across the country are coming to a different conclusion, deciding that it is so hard to differentiate the toys from the fakes that public safety demands they take action.

The leading U.S. opponent of gun control doesn't think much of legislation that seeks to control fake guns.
National Rifle Association spokesman Ashley Varner said anti-toy gun legislation is "silly" because "it doesn't deal with issues of crime."
"It won't eradicate the human element of the crime," she said. "It doesn't target getting criminals off the street."

The proposed legislation I agree is silly. While true, many of the toys look like the real thing but I think that's the idea. But they were not designed to be used to commit crimes.
While officers are given milliseconds to react to the sight of a gun in the hands of someone where a crime has been reported the fault lies with not the officer but with the person toting around the toy and covering up the bright orange tip at the end of the barrel... which an officer might not have time to see and especially if it's done quickly and worse in a darkened environment.

Banning them isn't going to make the problem go away.

What do you all think?

 

[jks9199]

In Virginia, brandishing a toy gun (or using a toy gun in an offense like robbery) is punished the same as if it was a real gun. See 18.2-282; the relevant part reads:

It shall be unlawful for any person to point, hold or brandish any firearm or any air or gas operated weapon or any object similar in appearance, whether capable of being fired or not, in such manner as to reasonably induce fear in the mind of another or hold a firearm or any air or gas operated weapon in a public place in such a manner as to reasonably induce fear in the mind of another of being shot or injured...

Incidentally, there are companies that are powdercoating and otherwise coloring real guns in all sorts of pretty colors, so that they look like toys. And we've got crooks out there who have reportedly come up with the bright idea of painting the tip of the barrel of a real gun orange so that it appears to be a toy... Throw in Airsoft and similar toys or replicas... I don't take a chance. If it looks like I gun, I assume it is one. Which means I may well shoot before someone has a chance to tell me it's just a toy... Let me illustrate this with a war story... A couple of years ago, I stopped off at a Mcdonalds on my beat. A man approached me, and told me that "that kid" has a bb gun and are being kind of careless about how they're handling it. I pulled the kid aside just as a call went out from dispatch because a different person called in the kids... except that caller advised they had a gun. Well... I'm talking to the kid; ask him what he's got in his pocket... and as he starts to pull out what looks to me like the butt of a Glock, I quickly assume control of him, and take the "gun." It was an Airsoft or similar; it looked so much like my duty gun (Glock 22) that had I walked in and seen him with it -- I'd have drawn down on him. (He got lucky; the only reason he didn't get a formal charge of carrying a concealed weapon was the exact wording of the law in describing a concealed weapon.)

 

[TheOriginalName]

This reminds me of a story last year in Melbourne, Australia (my home town).

A guy in his mid 20's was going to a Star Wars convention - in his backpack he had his Stormtrooper outfit that he was going to get changed into once he got their. Unfortunately his bag was not large enough to fully contain his laser rifle, part of the barrel was sticking out the top. As he walked through the city he was slowely surrounded by police who then jumped him and arrested for carring a restricted weapon........

Now i understand the idea of the law - we don't want people running around with things that look like real guns but really - a replica laser gun?!?


Anyway, just thought i would share.....

 

[KenpoTex]

this is just another knee-jerk reaction that doesn't really address the problem.

Once again, the object is being demonized and personal accountability is not even mentioned.

 

[Obi Wan Shinobi]

In Florida its prosecuted as if it were a real gun as well if it was used in the commission of a crime. As a Deputy I think that the law is there not only to dissuade the perp from using a fake gun but also to keep him from getting shot by someone with a "real" gun...Most flea markets and hobby shops do sells realistic looking bb guns that would scare the tar outta most people. I do believe and I could be wrong that in Florida all bb guns have to have the front part of the barrel/slide painted orange. And yes in Florida an officer is justified in shooting someone who is using a gun in the commission of a crime or self defense whether or not its real...And that goes for laser pointers being pointed to LEO as well.

 

[MBuzzy]

I have two airsoft guns, one of which is a replica of the real gun that I own....and when I hold them up next to each other, I can't tell the difference. Without feeling the weight, there is no way to know. I got these YEARS ago when I was younger and before they started making the tips bright orange. Now, I find it frightening.

While I was in college a few of my friends almost got killed because of these things, they were have an airsoft battle, someone called the cops because these people had guns.....cops show up, a bunch of kids pointing guns at each other in the dark - you can fill in the rest.

While I don't think that a ban or restricting the toys are going to do anything - anyone who uses them irresponsibly should be treated as if they are the real thing and prosecuted as such. I'm surprised no one has been shot yet....or if they have, I haven't heard of it. Personally, I wouldn't think any less of a cop that shot someone who had one of these.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Didn't John Dillinger use a fake gun made of of soap to escape from jail?

Here in Texas if you use a fake, but realistic gun, you can be blown out of the water by anyone you stick up and they will not be held libel.

Instead of making toy guns illegal, educate the population of the consequences of using toy guns either illegaly or as pranks.

As on ex-gang member in Chicago said, "bans do nothing. Authorities ban things when they don't know the answer".

And that is why they ban things, ignorance.

Deaf