Air Soft Guns--Don't Remove the Orange Tip

[umsami]

I'm posting this as I know that there are some Moms/Dads out there whose kids have these guns...or who may buy them as holiday gifts.

 

Apparently, the 12 year old boy (or somebody else) removed the orange tip at the end which let everybody know it wasn't a "real" gun.  (Of course, you can still do damage with a BB gun.)   He was shot by a rookie cop who (I'm assuming) thought it was a real gun.  While it's illegal to do so, I'm guessing most 12 year olds would not be aware of that fact. (Nor would I).

 

It's not an easy talk to have...and I'm sure a lot of kids want their guns to look "real"...but please talk with your kids about how dangerous removing those identifying marks are.

 

Some Mom's Thanksgiving/Christmas season will never be the same again. :(

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/23/police-shooting-toy-gun-cleveland_n_6207776.html

[umsami]

My Dh has several air soft guns. Not all air soft guns come with a orange tip, even the ones that look like real guns. In addition some people add orange tips to real guns. (http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/defenders-criminals-using-orange-tips-on-real-guns/25983942) 

 

Good to know.  OK, I have no advice then.  I thought they all had to have the orange tips.

[TeenagerMom]

How sad. What most people don't realize is that Airsoft guns really are not toys. No store in our area will even sell one to a minor. DS12 has multiples. He has been taught gun safety & must follow all gun safety rules when he is handling them.

[EndOfOrdinary]

It is illegal by Federal law to sell Airsoft over the counter to a minor, but not for a minor to purchase by other means. I just do not understand the need for a "play" or "toy" or "fake" weapon to need to look real. What is the desire there? Why on Earth would you want to only seem like you could do deadly force? As if someone under threat of their life is not going to respond radically...even with a real gun the number one rule is don't point it if you are not willing to kill someone/something.

 

I remember in the early nineties when police killed two brothers who were using squirt guns designed to look like real guns. It was a neighboring large city, in an area of heavy gang activity. The boys were around 14 and were acting out like they were in rival gangs playing some game. Someone called the cops, who responded like gang violence was happening. The kids flipped out and ran....it was horrible. No one was really at fault - I can see both sides. The officers felt terrible. It obviously left a significant impression on me since I still remember it two decades later.

[SKL]

I think this boy was probably too young to realize he was putting himself in danger.

 

When I was a kid one Halloween, my younger sister decided to be a Cowboy and she borrowed my dad's real pistol (it was a fancy antique one that he'd bought as a collector's item).  My dad didn't know this until later.  We thought it was a perfectly benign decision.

 

Definitely something I will drill home when my kids get access to any kind of gun.

[Slartibartfast]

While I agree that removing the orange tip from an airsoft gun is a bad idea I think brandishing a firearm at people and threatening police is the bigger problem in this situation.

 

 

[EndOfOrdinary]

While I agree that removing the orange tip from an airsoft gun is a bad idea I think brandishing a firearm at people and threatening police is the bigger problem in this situation.

 

As far as I understand it, neither people were brandishing firearms nor pointing them at anyone.  If you read the article, the media is using quite inflammatory language.  They are victim shaming.  There was so much supposition in the article that it is ridiculous.  They are not reporting, they are deliberately shifting public opinion without evidence.

 

He was 12.  It actually states that he did not point the gun at anyone or threaten them.  The 911 caller said he thought the boy was threatening people with the gun.  The boy was assumed to be reaching for it by police.  The boy is directly stated as saying nothing nor doing anything threatening with police.  Again, he was 12.  When a squad of police point a gun at you when you are 12, your under-developed judgment center is not functioning the clearest.  Really, go back and reread it.  The facts are slim and far between.

 

In the instance I was talking about, the boys were young and panicked.  They were honestly playing a game - a stupid game, but a game that was age appropriate for the lifestyle they had grown up in.  That doesn't make it right, but it does make it a tragedy. 

 

This type of comment is the same as victim shaming in rape cases.  They are boys who are young and stupid.  That doesn't make them worthy of death.  Nor does it make the Airsoft gun or the boys the problem.  In both instances we know so little about the actual events, that starting to place blame on people is ridiculous.

 

[Slartibartfast]

As far as I understand it, neither people were brandishing firearms nor pointing them at anyone.  If you read the article, the media is using quite inflammatory language.  They are victim shaming.  There was so much supposition in the article that it is ridiculous.  They are not reporting, they are deliberately shifting public opinion without evidence.

 

He was 12.  It actually states that he did not point the gun at anyone or threaten them.  The 911 caller said he thought the boy was threatening people with the gun.  The boy was assumed to be reaching for it by police.  The boy is directly stated as saying nothing nor doing anything threatening with police.  Again, he was 12.  When a squad of police point a gun at you when you are 12, your under-developed judgment center is not functioning the clearest.  Really, go back and reread it.  The facts are slim and far between.

 

In the instance I was talking about, the boys were young and panicked.  They were honestly playing a game - a stupid game, but a game that was age appropriate for the lifestyle they had grown up in.  That doesn't make it right, but it does make it a tragedy. 

 

This type of comment is the same as victim shaming in rape cases.  They are boys who are young and stupid.  That doesn't make them worthy of death.  Nor does it make the Airsoft gun or the boys the problem.  In both instances we know so little about the actual events, that starting to place blame on people is ridiculous.

 

 

Where are you getting this information?

 

This is the most recent article that I can find.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/us/boy-12-dies-after-being-shot-by-cleveland-police-officer.html?_r=0

 

I am not trying to be argumentative, I would be happy to look at something that presents more views to the situation.

 

According to that article, the 911 caller said he was pointing the gun at people and scaring them. 

[EndOfOrdinary]

I am getting it from the link in the original post.

[Slartibartfast]

The original article doesn't say he didn't point the gun at anyone, it says he didn't point the gun at the police. 

 

 

 

“There is a guy with a pistol,†the caller said. “It’s probably fake, but he’s pointing it at everybody.â€[/size]

This is a terrible tragedy, my heart aches for the family of the boy and the officers in this situation. I don't think it is "victim shaming" to wonder what someone could have been thinking.

 

I hope with time more information from eye witnesses is given so more can be known about what occurred.

[flyingiguana]

A girl pulled a toy gun on me once.  In my own yard.  If I'd had a gun and been trained in how to use it, I'm pretty sure I would have shot her to defend myself and my daughter.

 

Actually, I KNOW I would have shot her. 

 

I would have shot to kill.  There would have been no other way, in the split second moment, to protect myself from getting killed.

 

In retrospect, she wasn't actually aiming it at ME (although it was pointed directly at me and if it had been a real gun and if it was fired, I would have been dead or severely injured).  Her friend was hiding in our yard.  I just happened to be standing in the way.

 

It was part of a game the local high school did every year.  Kids would run around the neighborhood shooting each other with their toy guns and the last one standing got some pot of money.

 

The girl who aimed at me was a senior -- not 12.  She "should" have known better, but as it was part of a game she likely didn't think.

 

The orange tip of the gun was not apparent to me at all.  Whether this was because it was pointed head on at me or because I didn't have time to go through the thinking process of determining whether it was real or not, I don't know.  But my guess is that even a trained cop who knew all about fake guns might not have gone through that whole thought process before shooting.  (And the orange tip might not be visible?)

 

I'd think anyone who picked up a fake gun and roamed around a neighborhood shooting at people would be in serious danger if they happened to run in to anyone who had a real gun -- police or otherwise.

 

Those guns should not be legal in anything but a controlled setting.

[flyingiguana]

I'll add that the girl who was aiming at me was in no way, in her mind, threatening me.

 

But -- it was aimed directly at me.  The gun itself was the threat.  She didn't need to say anything.

 

 

[SKL]

The boy was aiming the gun at people, that's why there was a 911 call in the first place.

 

I don't think he was trying to do anything bad - certainly not worthy of being shot.  It's just what our world has come to.  Boys should be able to play cops n robbers or cowboys n indians or soldier (like we did as kids) without someone calling the cops.  But people are scared because sometimes, young gang members etc. really are carrying a loaded gun and sometimes they really do shoot and kill people.  Of course none of this is the fault of the boy who is now dead.

[mom2scouts]

My 12 year old has several toy guns.  After this story came out, I reminded him that he is NEVER to remove the orange tips.  The orange tips are usually bigger than the barrel and should still be visible when the gun is pointed right at you. My adult son is in the Army and has an airsoft gun that looks exactly like the M4 he trains with but has the orange barrel. Since it shoots projectiles, my 12 year old isn't allowed to handle it unless he treats it like a real gun (and we ALWAYS assume a gun is loaded!).

 

This news story breaks my heart for both the 12 year old's family and the rookie police officer.  It looked like a real gun and the boy reached into his waistband to grab it instead of putting his hands up.  This story is local to me and the earliest reports did say the 911 caller reported he was brandishing the gun on the playground and "scaring the **** out of people".  They are also reporting that the shooting was caught on surveillance video.

[SKL]

What we need to do is educate kids about guns.  We need to stop the whole "if you think about a gun in school you are going to be suspended."  Instead we should be acknowledging that some kids will have access to toy or real guns, and when that happens, they need to do xyz in order to keep themselves and others safe.  That includes not ever pointing a gun at others and not using a gun (or something that looks like a real gun) in a public place not designed for shooting.  Sad but necessary. 

 

And toy guns should clearly look like toy guns.  Neon green, plastic, stupid shapes etc.  I thought that had already been established.

[Mergath]

This type of comment is the same as victim shaming in rape cases.  They are boys who are young and stupid.  That doesn't make them worthy of death.  Nor does it make the Airsoft gun or the boys the problem.  In both instances we know so little about the actual events, that starting to place blame on people is ridiculous.

 

Talking about what we can do to prevent this kind of situation in the future is the same as blaming rape victims for being raped?  :confused1: