There are firearms, and there are firearm-shaped objects. The latter of these are those that look like guns but aren't meant to fire a projectile via explosive action. This includes things like cap pistols, airsoft guns, BB and pellet guns, and non-firing replicas.
Firearm-shaped objects aren't regulated like firearms, nor should they be. Millions of people use them for peaceful, lawful purposes, much like firearms, but because they're not regulated, we're looking at orders of magnitude more of them in private hands over the decades.
They're for fun, and they're not intended to hurt people.
But some people misuse them. While they might not be intended for criminal actions, they're sometimes used for such things, like these two numbnuts in South Dakota.
Police arrested two men after an armed robbery at a Mount Rushmore Road business on Jan. 4.
Officers say about 11:40 a.m., an unknown man entered the Common Cents store, brandished what looked like a handgun, and demanded money; the employee cooperated, and the suspect left.
Officers located a man in the area and, using surveillance video, traced the suspect meeting another man near an apartment building on Cathedral Drive. Video later showed both men leaving the building shortly before police made contact.
...
Officers recovered the weapon used in the incident; it was later determined to be a BB gun fashioned to look like a real firearm.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how people get shot over firearm-shaped objects.
If you point a gun-shaped object at me, I'm not going to take the time to measure the diameter, look for brand logos, or literally anything else. I don't have the time for that. I'm going to treat it like a gun and react accordingly.
The same is true of police officers who face these kinds of "guns" in the wild and have to react. I don't blame them for shooting someone with such a weapon. Yes, even if it's a child. It's not like young kids never have guns, after all. It's awful that they find themselves in such a position, especially if the kid in question isn't actually committing a crime, at least on purpose, but a toy gun or an air gun can look too much like a real one for anyone to screw around with.
Especially when it's been modified to hide the markers that show it's not a live firearm.
Play stupid games, you stand the chance to win stupid prizes.
These dipsticks didn't, but that's because the one who went into the store to rob it didn't find himself face-to-face with an armed citizen. Good guys with guns tend to carry the real thing, and it most definitely fires a projectile via explosive action.
That's how people get killed over toy guns and other gun-shaped objects that turn out to be something other than a real firearm. Personally, I think it's a bit of chlorine in the gene pool when criminals get popped while brandishing something other than an actual firearm, but I'm an upbeat kind of guy. I try to always find the positive in stuff.
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to lie about gun owners and the Second Amendment.
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