Fake guns and cops

I know that I’ve posted before about pointing fake guns at cops/people, something along the lines of that it’s a really good way to get shot.

If you’re robbing the local beverage establishment with a fake gun and the cops show up, it’s also probably a bad idea to point that gun at the cops, because not only will you get shot, but if you live you’ll go to jail like this guy.

A Fremont man shot and wounded by Union City police after he allegedly stole from a liquor store and pointed a fake handgun at officers has been charged by Alameda County prosecutors.

Robbing liquor stores – bad idea.  Robbing liquor stores with a fake gun – worse idea.  Pointing said fake gun at the police  – worst idea yet.

I know I’m being kind of glib about this, because I can afford to be in this situation; no one got killed, so no cop has to live with shooting someone who only had a fake gun, and that’s a good thing.  But the reality of the situation is that this is a serious issue, which is why I’ve come back to it on a regular basis.

I have no problem with airsoft guns, or toy guns that look real, or anything like that.  I fully intend on letting my kids play with toy guns, and have BB guns and such; but even toy guns come with the rules of gun safety, and the biggest rule with toy guns is that if you ever here “drop the gun” you drop the damn gun right then and there.  Obviously, in this specific instance it’s a little different, but I want my kids (and everyone else) to understand that when it comes to fake guns and cops, it really is better to err on the side of caution.

3 Comments

  1. Personally, I don’t like the idea of realistic “toy guns”. I had ’em as a kid, and I turned out OK I guess, but it was always made clear from an early age that guns are NOT toys. If my children do get realistic-looking toy guns (cap guns, airsoft, etc.), the same 4 rules will apply always (as they did for me.) Thankfully, squirt-guns don’t look at all like guns these days, which makes it easier, because it would be no fun at all to require your kids not point their super-soaker at anything they don’t wish to destroy, or to verify what is beyond their target.

  2. When I was a kid, I had a water pistol that was a realistic version of a 1911 (the slide even had to be cocked in order to fire a “shot”).

    It was, of course, taken away from me by my parents for fear that I’d be shot by a police officer.

  3. I was at an estate auction today. One of the items sold in the ring was a pellet gun (pistol). An expensive one (at least it was expensive when new; I would tell you how little it brought). No one blinked, no one complained, no one fainted, no one died . . . and no one had their eye put out. It was refreshing.

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