Fake firearms targeted
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
A Minnesota city is putting the finishing touches on a proposal to make it illegal to carry realistic-looking toy guns in public. It’s the latest attempt nationwide to cope with dead-ringer weapons that have put police on edge. St. Paul Councilman Lee Helgen says recent incidents in which teenagers or criminals pointed replica weapons at police prompted the bill he plans to introduce as soon as city attorneys vet legal details.
The proposed ordinance would extend an existing ban on traditional BB guns to what are called airsoft weapons — fake firearms that shoot plastic pellets and are used in simulated military games similar to paintball. “These things are really hard to tell from a real weapon, and they are being used to commit crimes,” Helgen says. “We don’t want these things on the street.” Neither do officials elsewhere: *In Beaverton, Ore., police have confronted several teenagers wielding phony firearms. …