Florida: "Delray police warn that replica guns can create confusion, danger"

[cuchulainn]

from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...ns14nov14,0,7973881.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

Delray police warn that replica guns can create confusion, danger

By C. Ron Allen
Staff Writer
Posted November 14 2003

As a woman drove along Swinton Avenue recently, she saw a group of boys on a golf cart brandishing a handgun and called police.

An officer -- prepared to use deadly force if necessary -- caught up with the cart and saw the boy with the replica weapon in hand.

In the hectic minutes that followed, the officer confiscated the "weapon," only to discover the teen posed a greater danger to himself.

It was "very, very real," Delray Beach Police Lt. Marc Woods said of the handgun. But the gun was not real. And more of the look-alikes are getting into kids' hands.

"They are identical in appearance, they have the weight of a real gun, and to the untrained eye, it's a person with a gun. And to kids that know they're fake, it poses a real safety hazard. "

The only difference between the boy's replica Sig Sauer and a real gun was its bright red tip, a legal requirement for fake firearms. The teens were playing "war games," Woods said.

No one was injured during the Oct. 30 incident, but Delray Beach police are trying to educate the public about the dangers of carrying toy guns that look real.

Local police fear lots more could find their way under trees this Christmas.

Managers at local toy stores referred questions about their toy-gun sales to their corporate offices. Officials of Wal-Mart, Kay-Bee Toys and Toys "R" Us could not be reached Thursday, despite phone messages.

Sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller said they, too, are concerned about the popularity of the exact replicas.

"Unfortunately, there have been instances where individuals have committed robberies with weapons that look so real, we couldn't tell until we held it," he said. "We can put them on the table but you can't tell just by looking."

Since March 2002, Boynton Beach police have seized at least 10 fake guns that were used in robberies and other crimes. Police officials keep their fake guns in a separate bin.

"This is what's on the street," said Lt. Wendy Unger, pointing to the bin of fake guns, knives and baseball bats that were found. "This is what's coming in. There's nothing here that wouldn't be mistaken for a real firearm, and granted, you wouldn't want to get hit in the eye with a BB gun either."

William Mann, an evidence custodian and former Massachusetts state trooper, was fooled by one recently.

Mann's partner had placed a replica handgun, which had been found, into the bin to be destroyed. Later that morning, Mann was walking by the bin and was surprised at seeing the gun in the bin.

"I thought he had made a mistake and put a real gun in the bin until I picked it up and actually looked at it," Mann said. "I am a retired police officer, I know what real guns look like. This looks like a real gun."

C. Ron Allen can be reached at [email protected] or 561-243-6611. Email story
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Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

 

[Daedalus]

"This is what's on the street," said Lt. Wendy Unger, pointing to the bin of fake guns, knives and baseball bats that were found. "This is what's coming in. There's nothing here that wouldn't be mistaken for a real firearm, and granted, you wouldn't want to get hit in the eye with a BB gun either."

If the cops are mistaking knives and baseball bats for gun we have a very serious problem here.

At any rate, I remember playing war games as a kid with friends, We had those guns with the orange tips and we just spraypainted them black or removed them. We would split into teams, start at opposite ends of the block, and charge towards each other. I still remember running from behind cars, to behind trees, to behind mailboxes and shouting "BANG BANG" because we didnt have those fancy toy guns that made noises when you pulled the trigger.

When I think now that I cannot let my future children, whenever they arrive, play the same games with the neighborhood kids it makes me real sad. Is the banning of toy guns another step towards the Sissyfication of America?

 

[foghornl]

I looked at a couple of the replica guns recently... A Tanfoglio (sp?) 1911 style, and a Sig. Except for the small orange part at the muzzle, I would be very hard pressed to tell the difference at more than 2 feet.

committing felony with replica gun=terminally stooopid...i.e. Darwin Award candidate.