Burgold Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 So, there's a story today about a thirteen year old shot by police in Baltimore while carrying a replica gun (https://t.co/nmJTAyrZJO) No one in this case is accusing the police of wrongdoing. The mother was aware the child had this fake gun. Strangely enough, I don't want to talk about gun control on this one, but it seems odd to me that the kid was toting a replica gun. In my mind, that reads toy gun, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe a replica gun is something else. In any case, I'm wondering when did you stop playing with toy guns? When were you last out in the neighborhood shooting caps, or pointing and saying "bang" Thirteen seems old to be going around with a replica gun, doesn't it? I'd guess I was eight or ten, but don't really remember to be honest. Water pistols lasted much longer. I played with them into my teens. I'm not looking into right or wrong, good or bad. For all I know, he was walking a replica gun that was part of his video console to a friend's house. No one has suggested ill on the kid's or police's part. I'm just wondering is it typical for a kid that age to be goofing around with replica guns at 13? Did you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Most would not be able to tell the difference at a quick glance. Paintball gun... http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/community-sitcom/images/9/95/Tippmann_TPX_Paintball_Pistol.png/revision/latest?cb=20120925180423 Replica and toy are very different though. A replica is meant to look exactly like a real gun, they simple don't fire. But at what age ? Hell, I was just talking about going to do a paintball event the other day. When I was 13 certainly BB guns looked real. They were fun to try to shoot bottles in the woods. I'd bet some BB or pellet guns look real enough. Wonder if the kid was trying to pretend he had a real gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted April 28, 2016 Author Share Posted April 28, 2016 Yeah, I wasn't ascribing blame. From what I can tell the police acted reasonably. If information comes out that they never told the kid to drop the weapon or some such then the story changes. I missed the paintball gun thing when I skimmed the article if in this case it was a paintball gun. I do have some problem with the realism of some toys or paintball guns. It can lead to confusion and if a police officer has only a few seconds to make a life or death decision mistakes can easily happen. But the paintball explanation is a good one for why a kid at that age might be toting around a replica gun. Seemed a bit old for cops and robbers or cowboys and indians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 No,no,no. I was not referring to the article. I was just giving an example of what is essentially a toy gun, and simply going off what you were saying. The real problem is that they make them look real. On the flip side of that...gun manufacturers make pink guns...real guns. Most people would NOT think that they are real and would be rudely surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Isn't that why there is a law about toy guns having the orange cap on the end of the barrel? I played with plastic toy guns (I remember having a snub nose 38 cap gun) until about 10, then moved onto BB's and paintballs. But no paintball guns I ever had looked like real guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinsfan1311 Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Probably around the time I got my first real gun, (Crossman 760 BB rifle), when I was 9 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xameil Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 If you consider a water gun a toy gun....then never Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Zguy, what is to stop a kid from painting the barrel to match ? Same as a criminal painting theirs some powder coated florescent color... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Why am I Mr. Pink? Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 I lived a few blocks from where that kid was shot. I had to move my family out after having too many problems with 13 year olds. The breaking point was when a group of them just randomly decided to start throwing rocks at my wife and 3 year old daughter. They didnt know I was on the other side of our car and I chased them. 1, had to be 10 years old, ran into on-coming traffic and almost got hit. Another one, bigger than me, started to square off but then ran. Odd and embarrassing feeling, being a grown man about to beat the crap out of a 13 year old. Chased them into Perkins homes. They are just bored. There is nothing for them to do. They would mess with the 7-11 workers, mess with the drunks, mess with passing cars, mess with other kids. That McKim community center is never open except to do random soup lines. The gun the kid had was identical to a real gun. Very high probability that that "toy" gun was used to rob many people. To answer your question, this weekend when me and my daughter stopped shooting our water guns on our deck in the suburbs of montgomery village. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TradeTheBeal! Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 We didn't do guns in our household. We did musical instruments instead. So, never... I did enjoy some Duck Hunt, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Here's a photo of the replica semi-automatic pistol the 13-year-old boy was holding when he was shot by officers yesterday in Baltimore: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Something is wrong with link in op. It doesn't state the race of the officer or the child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Why am I Mr. Pink? Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 We didn't do guns in our household. We did musical instruments instead. So, never... I did enjoy some Duck Hunt, though. As a kid growing up in Frederick, we did sticks. Big logs for bazookas, branches trimmed to look like rifles and sticks to look like pistols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 I don't really ever recall playing with toy guns. I played with BB guns that looked pretty official when I was about 13 I'd assume. I had firecrackers that were illegal in the state of Virginia when I was about 15 or so, they sounded like real guns. Something is wrong with link in op. It doesn't state the race of the officer or the child. The kid didn't die. And I bet he won't **** around with a replica gun any more either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TradeTheBeal! Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 As a kid growing up in Frederick, we did sticks. Big logs for bazookas, branches trimmed to look like rifles and sticks to look like pistols. Every kid does that. Every movie and TV show they see celebrates gun culture and the virtues of deadly force...cause, ya know, Hollywood is oh so liberal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 My son is 10, he still plays with toy guns. We don't have any "replicas" but I've seen and held one. A student brought one to school and it was as real looking as can be. Until I picked it up to unload it, I had no idea. As soon as I picked it up, it was too light to be a real gun and I ejected the clip and at that point, it was evident that it was fake. There were no bullets. Just plastic. Any parent that allows their kids to play with toy guns should have already had the conversation about pointing them at people etc... I would never allow my son to play with a replica. You cannot expect cops to be able to determine its a fake gun in a split second. Common sense people. Common sense. Teach your kids. talk to them etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 I don't really ever recall playing with toy guns. I played with BB guns that looked pretty official when I was about 13 I'd assume. I had firecrackers that were illegal in the state of Virginia when I was about 15 or so, they sounded like real guns. The kid didn't die. And I bet he won't **** around with a replica gun any more either. I know he didn't die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted April 28, 2016 Author Share Posted April 28, 2016 My son is 10, he still plays with toy guns. We don't have any "replicas" but I've seen and held one. A student brought one to school and it was as real looking as can be. Until I picked it up to unload it, I had no idea. As soon as I picked it up, it was too light to be a real gun and I ejected the clip and at that point, it was evident that it was fake. There were no bullets. Just plastic. Any parent that allows their kids to play with toy guns should have already had the conversation about pointing them at people etc... I would never allow my son to play with a replica. You cannot expect cops to be able to determine its a fake gun in a split second. Common sense people. Common sense. Teach your kids. talk to them etc... I agree with this. The point made earlier about kids painting the orange on guns black so they look more real is possible. I playfully wonder if we should put wings on our toy guns and replicas.... something that would have to be sawed off and likely would break the gun or make it look really crappy... or make all our toy guns and even paintball guns look like Flash Gordon bulbous ray guns. Not that that will happen or should, but it would make it easier for police to spot a real gun and harder for kids to fake having one for mischief, play, or misdeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sinister Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 8. The toy guns I played with looked nothing remotely like the real thing. I have to question any parent that would let their kid run around B-More with something like that. That looks very real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted April 28, 2016 Author Share Posted April 28, 2016 8. The toy guns I played with looked nothing remotely like the real thing. Me too... though they looked an awful lot like the Lone Ranger's gun and Han Solo's blaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Why am I Mr. Pink? Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 I always wanted one of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade7 Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 My dad grew up in DC so he refused to get me so much as a NERF gun. Saw his heart drop when he saw me with a pellet gun as a teenager, that didn't last long. I see the picture of the replica further up in the thread, I'm not sure what good can come from having "toys" that look like that (see it's technically a replica, which in my head ain't much better). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 the only toy guns i was allowed to play with were ones that were painted bright colors, oddly shaped, and otherwise looked obviously fake. my parents wouldn't let me play with a gun that looked, in any reasonable manner, like a real gun. it baffles me that there are parents that do. it seems like an obviously stupid thing to allow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 The closest thing to a toy gun that could have maybe been confused for an actual weapon in the dark from a bad angle, was this thing. I had an auto water gun that looked like a sub machine gun but it was entirely bright red and blue. I still played with water guns as a teenager, though by then I had super soakers. We had a BB gun at home but it was my dad's and kept locked up. They shouldn't sell replicas that look anything like real guns. If I had my way it's the real firearms that would be brightly colored. The reason we have safety and caution colors is to communicate danger. Guns are dangerous. My family was different though, my parents survived a military coup. They've haven't trusted authorities with guns to do anything but shoot at you "just in case" ever since. Odd that behavior learned to survive a military coup would be so relevant in modern day, safe as it's ever been, America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visionary Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 I don't think I ever played with anything looking like a real gun. My dad had a cap gun that was sort of real looking, but it scared me as a kid, so I didn't play with it. I did play with noisy laser guns and squirt guns a lot, but those looked nothing like real guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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