[worm~hole]

...I'm watching the ABRAMS REPORT on MS-NBC and he's bitching that we're going overboard by banning and legislating toy guns...

...the toy manufacturers' representaitve is saying 'what next...my wallet because it looks like a weapon?'...gimme a break...

...in critical incidents (not playtime), some cops have killed or nearly shot a kid for pointing a toy gun at them or others...

..bright plastic toysguns are easily painted flat-black to resemble real guns...bad guys who don't have access to real guns use these modified painted guns to commit their crimes...young gangster wannabes use these things..young kids who like to look like gangsters but are not use these things...

...but savvy cops know that a gunman/child doesn't have to have a certain look to be in a critical incident...it could be ANYBODY...Asian, white, hispanic, black, mid-east, low-income, hi-income, girls, boys, young, old...

...often times cops have but precious few seconds OR LESS!!! to decide what it is and the threat level...

...real-life scenerio: one night a few years ago, I was in my patrol unit entering data on my car's computer, I heard the distinctive sounds of what I believed were gun "clicks" somewhere outside behind my car...I crouch down in my seat and reach up to aim my rearview mirror and quickly start to drive away...I see two small sillohuets in my mirror in a crouching weaver stance shooting at me...I stop...they run back into their yard...I contact the parents and the 10~12 year old kids...two freakin' toy guns!!!...when I spoke to the kids and the parents of what I thought and how it could've turn out deadly, I wanted to cry...its not like it used to be when we were kids playing out on the streets...an unfortunate change in the signs of our time...

...the cops didn't create it, we just react to it...

...what do you think about the ban?

 

[NameChanger]

I know you all are going to think I'm crazy, but I have been saying for years that the LEO's of our great country needs a weapon that will put your ass DOWN like right now BUT not seriously harm you. Like a Star Trek phaser on 'stun'. At least that way when the time comes and there is some doubt about the safety of the officer... drop'em!

Screw that 'Tazer' thing, that might be alright for controlling some wacko, I mean something that is effective as a .45 but non-lethal. Then kids with real looking guns will learn from time to time not to point them at cops (that would work for bulldogs too)

Yeah, I know I'm crazy but that's the way I think and I'm serious.

 

[worm~hole]

...they're actually working on it as we speak...but I'll be a wheezin' curmudgeon cruisin' around on a three-wheeled a Goldwing pullin' a pop-up trailer by the time it goes into service...we'll try anything to not kill someone and bring them to justice... now all the judicial system has to do is excercise the penal codes and punish to the full extent ...and the department of corrections have to do is build more prisons and jails and staff them appropriately...but oh, the money involved... :shock:

 

[Tainui]

My $.02.

If you pull a gun (any kind toy or not) and point it at a police officer....you are going to get shot. Its a very simple rule and education of the sheep with which we have to commune with it the real answer. This is the rule...pull a gun...get shot. You don't want the police to think you are a criminal and feel threatened....drop the gun or don't play with guns (real or fake) Now let Darwin's principle take hold - those who are intelligent enough to understand sociological norms will survive and the rest....should have been paying attention.

 

[NameChanger]

I can agree with what you said usedtobeTainuiNYC ... BUT I don't think any LEO can live with their self if they shoot a little kid playin' cops & robbers.... can they? I don't even think Darwin would approve of that.

 

[worm~hole]

...yup, namechanger....its probably one of cop's worst nightmares...as I've said before, I wanted to cry when I told them what I thought and what could've happened...

..however, when you deal with the stupidity of some people on a daily basis as most of us cops do, you can't help but become somewhat cynical of some people's incredible and sometimes predictable behavior...young and old, its almost all the same...sometimes we just gotta detach ourselves with a combination of stoicism and cynicism for our own sanity...and it may come across in our behavior or what we say...nothing personal...sometimes literally...not the most professional of behaviors, but it happens nonetheless...

...good thing there are some feel-good things and friendly citizens out there to help keep us in positive check... :wink:

 

[Bigsaint]

Less than lethal

NC makes a great point. Ever see the episode on the Discovery Channel and what the USMC has developed or is testing for less than lethal riot situations ? Pretty neat stuff, but less than practical for the everyday street cop.

The environment the cop is in has alot to do with this topic. I'm lucky enough to work in a rural township. We have about 20,000 calls for service in one year. If I see a kid walking down the street with a gun, it's probably either a pelletgun that he's taking to a friends house to shoot cans with or a shotgun that he just exited the woods with after a afternoon of hunting. They cops in the urban areas don't have this luxury and everyone with a gun is suspect.

Gun control isn't big were I work/live. Many parents foster gun safety to their kids and I had a great sucess running a PAL rifle team for many years promoting safety and marksmanship with the the area youth. Seems to work for us, but we aren't in a urban environment.

Scott W.

 

[edge2edge]

Again well said Bigsaint! I live in a rural area and work in the downtown core of a major city...anyone walking around with what appears to be a firearm is going to be taken down at gunpoint. Unfortunately thats the reality. We see lots of pellet gun replica firearms up here you can buy the easily at Canadian Tire, etc Bad karma to have one tucked in your belt in a big city, not a big deal out in the boonies...especially if your skiing behind a motorcycle on cast iron frying pans...eh Busa?

 

[NameChanger]

BigSaint, I watch the Discovery Channel like a religion! But I hate to say I missed the one you're talking about!

I was never involved in a riot, but I have been worked over by a high pressure firehose and let me tell ya.... that water kick my ass! I was sore for a week.

It wouldn't be a surprised to me if I saw somebody riding a bicycle with a Barrett strapped on it around here! :lol: :lol:

 

[Bigsaint]

Good pic. NC !!! Gotta love it 8) .

They haven't run that less than lethal title in awhile now, it was good stuff though. One part I recall had a volunteer take a shot to the leg with a 12 GA rubber slug @ 25yds :shock: . He went down like a ton of $hit, bet it never volunteers for that duty again. They also had a great segment on the water cannons and yes, they look like they hurt alot !!!

Scott W.