If you let your kid walk down the street with an authentic looking AK-47, there is a fair chance that he will get shot. If not by police, likely by a homeowner who feels equally as threatened in a confrontation.

Stop asking "what do we want, JUSTICE NOW!" and use your head. Be a better parent. Be an active parent. What cop isn't on high alert these days with all of the events happening daily in this country.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Son...-228927441.html

::Like::

Thank you, Norman. You stated what should be, but apparently isn't so obvious to a generation of American parents.

Sorry, I don't buy that this was wholly the kid's fault.
Why is a replica gun of this type even available? And he had a handgun replica on him too.
Who teaches a 13 year old that this kind of stuff is cool to have and play with?

I do buy that this is an extension of society's fault.
We advocate for the right to bear arms with little restaint on who can have them.
There have been enough incidents of idiocy that people and law enforcement are hyper vigilant. Otherwise, why wouldn't there have been warning shots or mame shots instead of going for the kill shot?

And we thought yesterday's discussion on no kick ball on a playground was an over-reaction.

you lost me on the warning shot part

and there are restraints on who can purchase a gun, must be of legal age without a felony

There are no warning shots given. The could be dangerous to bystanders.

There is no training to mame. If the PO thinks he (or partner, civilians egt.) is not in danger they are not allowed to shoot.

Unless you go to a gun show..right?

I agree with TR that there should be laws that should be in place requiring "replicas" to be more distinguishable as such. They should all be painted bright orange or pink.

As for the "why go for the kill shot?" Watch an episode of cops or talk to an officer who is in such a situation as this. Watch the cop that screams like a little girl when in a fight with a suspect who is reaching for the officers gun. These guys revert to pure survival mode. As they should; as we all would.

When the heart is racing and the adrenaline is surging in a moment like this, cops aim for the torso. This is largest target. There is no way a cop is going to be able to shoot a kid in the finger or leg in a situation of such intensity.

A tragic incident yes. But I'm all for the cops. Watch the video in the initial post and look at the comparison between the replica and the real thing.

never been to one but don't most gun show sellers have licenses and they need to abide by the laws, i.e. background checks

anyone in theory can buy one off the street

and for the record, I'm not opposed to mandatory background checks for all sales though we know there will be plenty of non-law abiding people selling them and purchasing them illegaly

Peepers...i don't know exactly either, but my impression has been that everything about buying a gun is much more relaxed at a gun show.

A law requiring that a "toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm shall have as an integral part, permanently affixed, a blaze orange plug inserted in the barrel of such toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm" was passed as Section Four of the Federal Energy Management Improvement Act of 1988 (PL 100-615). The law provided for alternative markings if the orange plug could not be used

http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/1738/Firearm-Laws-Regulations-Ordinances-TOY-GUNS.html

Just an ID. That's all that needed. But that is another topic.

My purpose for this post was to highlight the idiocy of some parents today. They are going to ask for these cops on a silver platter. Flip it the other way and imagine that the cop was there son; how would they react then?

This was an "air gun" apparently that shot small plastic pellets. That industry lobbied to be exempt from the above rule. This gun had no such markings.

"Warning shots" are a matter of local PD policy. Many do not permit them.

"Maiming shots" is a TV-thing.

The officer's account is that the kid was facing away from them, was commanded to drop the weapon and turn around, the kid turned around without dropping the weapon. The replica did not have the typical blaze orange cap, all the officer could see was a realistically sized AK-47 sweeping toward he and his fellow officers.

This happened right here where I live.

Other than this incident why do (did) you want to move? That is one of the nicest parts of CA.

There were two teenage boys playing with "Soft Air" guns in the alley the other night when I was leaving work. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw them. They had either taken the orange tips off the barrels or covered them because they looked very real.

My 5 yr old grandson was given a toy gun by an older cousin. It has the orange tip. However, since he lives in the Bronx, that gun is staying at my house which sits on 18 acres. I feel pretty sure he would take the orange tip off to make it look more real. I'm not taking that chance with his life.
And he knows not to question grandma about it.

Smart lady.

I don't want to move, I just got here a few months ago. It is very nice, I like it a lot.

IDNK that you moved to here (there).

Sorry, I still dont buy in. I grew up with toys that looked exactly like their real counter parts, it was fantasy and we all knew it, we also knew when and where not to play with them. Those air soft guns have been around for a long time and the responsiblity for what to do with them lies on who has it in their hands (and their parents).
As for "warning shots" there is no such thing and never has been. Those are a creation of the movies and TV.

It is horribly tragic and those people understandably want someone to blame. But I dont believe you can blame officers that saw what appears to be a real gun and a subject that does not do what they are telling him to do. The boy and or his parents made some choices that had unforseen and tragic results.

It's sad how things have changed. I grew up in time when all kids played with guns, although we gave it up long before age 13. I had a replica Thompson machine gun. The kid next door had a full size replica M-14.

But those days are gone. The gun that kid had looks very authentic. And with the number of kids his age or younger bringing guns to school, I don't see how you can blame the police. The kid should have had a case or box to transport the gun. An adult should have taught him that.

If these were Air Soft pellet guns, they are not considered toys and would not have the bright orange cap on the end. Unfortunately, many air soft guns are made to look as life-like as possible and so if kids (or adults) do not treat them with the proper amount of respect that all firearms should be treated with, then situations like this will continue and become more frequent. (at least until Congress bans air soft guns)

You can say you knew when and where or where not to play with them, but in reality we would play cops and robbers, cowboys and Indi....Native Americans or what ever, running through the neighborhood fake guns in hand, in and out of neighbor's yards (fenced or not). I don't remember playing with toy guns at 13, maybe I did, but I can assure you, we were playing hide and seek, with about 25 kids, with boundries that covered 6 blocks and again we were hiding in trees, behind sheds etc, and never in our own yards. Do that today and you are taking a chance on getting shot. The reason kids have to be worried for their safety in that situation is not their fault. We complain that our kids sit in the house and play video games all day but who wants them out on the street when this can happen, justified or not. I remember leaving my house at 9am most every day during the summer, going to the park playing lob league (half field baseball), basketball, football, swimming at a friends house or whatever. I just knew I had to be back by 5pm for dinner. I didn't have a cell phone for someone to check on me and somehow I managed to get back home every day on time. Like it or not society has changed the way we have to raise the kids. I can promise you my son isn't leaving the house at 9am on Saturday to go to the school yard to play basketball, football or anything else without a cell phone and me knowing where he is at all times. You can better believe he isn't running through the neighborhood after dark playing hide and seek jumping over fences and in and out of yards either.

Sadly this event isn't getting us any closer to where my grandchildren are going to be able to do the things that we did as kids either.

I don't care who's fault it is. It is just sad.