Potential BB Gun Trend On Tik Tok Could Be Lethal

(Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department via AP)

Sometimes, the concerns about supposed trends are overblown. People don’t really eat tide pods or snort condoms or whatever else. However, there’s a potential trend that may be a thing on Tik Tok that could be a problem.

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“I don’t come to Bearing Arms to talk about Tik Tok, for crying out loud,” you say? Well, you’re right.

However, this apparent trend is relevant because if people do it, it may result in them getting shot.

Delray Beach Police sent out a tweet on Friday warning the community about a possible TikTok trend where, “kids are shooting each other with BB guns for fun, around town.”

Delray Beach police Sgt. Terance Scott said the warning against the trend comes after two girls were caught in the middle.

“Basically, we got a call from the staff at Pompey Park in regard to numerous juveniles playing with these water gun pellets. Unfortunately, two children were also struck by these pallets,” Scott said.

He added, “No, it’s not a crime to have (them). No, it’s not a crime to use (them), but it is a crime to shoot an unwilling participant.”

Which is what Delray Beach police said happened on Tuesday evening at around 6:30 p.m. at Pompey Park near the basketball courts when kids were shooting either water gun pellets or BB guns near children that were practicing cheerleading.

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Scott went on to point out that there are armed citizens out there who aren’t likely to assume it’s a BB gun being pointed at them.

Look, it’s important to realize that when something is pointed at you, that small diameter of a BB gun looks to be a fair bit larger. No one is going to break out the calipers and measure the diameter. They’re going to see a weapon pointing at them and they’re going to react accordingly.

That can have tragic consequences.

For me, what’s worse is what may happen with the armed citizen who pulls the trigger in such a situation. It would be easy for them to start beating themselves up like they should have known it wasn’t a real firearm. It can cause severe depression or anxiety, among other possible mental health issues.

Oh, and yeah, the idiot pointing gun-shaped objects at random people got killed. I’m less upset about that than the person whose life is destroyed because of someone’s moronic decision to point a BB gun at people they didn’t know. It would be the epitome of “play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”

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The long and the short of it is don’t. Make sure people realize that this kind of “challenge” or trend isn’t a bright idea if you value breathing. If you don’t, well, then I recommend you call 1-800-273-8255. That’s the number for the national suicide hotline. Use it instead of doing something stupid.

Honestly, folks, while I get the desire for social media fame, following a trend like this isn’t the way to achieve it. If you try it and get killed, I’m not going to be one of those talking about how tragic it was. I’m going to be the guy mocking you for showing someone where the chlorine needed to be added into the gene pool.

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