Banning Toy Guns, YEP in Baltimore City Council Says:IT'S THE EASIEST WAY!!!!

Baltimore City council gave preliminary approval of a ban on toy guns that look real.

A 14 year old boy was shot holding a bb gun by police.

These guns are sometimes used by criminals to use in crimes.

The penalty part of the law says if a the toy gun can be reasonably perceived to be real you get a $250 first offense $1000 for the second.

The council said this is the easiest way to get the toys off the streets.

Are the criminals going to follow yet another law to stop being criminals?

Is this going to stop kids from wanting real looking guns? And stop police from shooting them?

The Baltimore City Council gave preliminary approval Monday to a citywide ban on toy guns that look like working handguns and rifles.

Council members introduced the legislation after a 14-year-old East Baltimore boy holding a BB gun was shot by a city police detective in April.

City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young said replica guns are contributing to violence on Baltimore's streets. He said people are using the fake weapons in robberies, and children who carry them are put in harm's way.

There have been more than 800 shootings this year in Baltimore, which is on pace to pass 300 homicides for a second consecutive year.

It's something that we should do for the safety of our children," Young said. "We're getting stores robbed with replicas. We've got people running around with these things and they almost look real. ... I don't think we should be allowing replica guns in the city of Baltimore, especially with the murder rate we have."

A police detective in East Baltimore shot and wounded 14-year-old Dedric Colvin in the shoulder and leg in April.

Police said the boy was carrying a spring-air-powered BB gun that resembled a semiautomatic pistol. He survived the shooting.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis called the Daisy brand PowerLine Model 340 spring-air pistol that Dedric was carrying an "absolute, identical replica semiautomatic pistol."

City Councilman James B. Kraft introduced the proposed ban. He said the "easiest way to resolve this is to get the replica guns off the streets."

Under the legislation, owning, carrying or otherwise possessing a replica that could "reasonably be perceived to be a real firearm" could result in a $250 fine for a first offense. Fines would rise to $1,000 for second and subsequent offenses.

The council voted unanimously Monday, without discussion, to allow a final vote on Kraft's bill. The bill is expected to pass by December.

"These replica guns are not toys," Kraft said. "They look exactly like real guns, and unless you are standing there holding them in your hands you cannot tell the difference. We need to get them off the streets.

"The fewer guns we have on the streets, real or replica, the safer it is."

Gun-rights advocates opposed the bill.

Mark W. Pennak, president of Maryland Shall Issue Inc., wrote to the council that the legislation is "hopelessly vague" and violates federal law, which prohibits states from banning the sale of some replica firearms.

The city law department notes that Kraft's bill prohibits possession of the replica guns, not their sale, and argues it is therefore legal.

Pennak wrote that the legislation would "create a whole new class of criminals in the City of Baltimore for the mere home possession by entire families of otherwise perfectly legal toys!"

"There are better ways to address the underlying concerns without flouting federal law and without subjecting the citizens of the City to discriminatory arrests and prosecutions for violations of a vague law," he wrote.

Kraft said the bill was amended to respond to concerns of the National Rifle Association and firearms instructors. Under the revised legislation, replicas can be used for training purposes by certified instructors and in certain competitions.

Antique replica guns are not prohibited. Kraft said replicas also are allowed for theatrical productions.

"If you have a replica gun and you're using it at Center Stage, then you can use the replica gun," he said.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake supports the ban, her spokesman said.

"Mayor Rawlings-Blake has every intention of signing the legislation when it reaches her desk," spokesman Anthony McCarthy said. "Her interest is in ensuring that we educate the public of the potentially dangerous consequences of putting replica guns in the hands of our children."

The Baltimore bill follows similar legislation in New York, Chicago and Washington.

Dedric Colvin's shooting came amid a series of violent encounters nationwide involving realistic-looking toy guns. Police in Columbus, Ohio, shot and killed 13-year-old Tyre King after he allegedly pulled out a BB gun with a laser sight.

The police shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in a public park in Cleveland in 2014 drew national attention. Video footage showed the boy holding a toy gun in a public park.

The city of Cleveland agreed to pay $6 million to settle a federal lawsuit brought by Tamir Rice's family.

The shootings have helped fuel discussion of the way police officers — and others — view black youths. Many have argued that black children playing with BB guns are perceived as threats in a way white children are not.

Davis, who is white, has said the Baltimore encounter might have ended differently if his sons had been in Dedric Colvin's place.

"They're two 13-year-old white kids," he said. "If they had a gun in their hand, would it be perceived differently? Yeah, I'd be the first one to admit that."

The Baltimore Police Department submitted testimony supporting the legislation. Andrew G. Vetter, the chief of staff of the department, wrote that it's virtually impossible for officers to tell the difference between real firearms and replica guns when making quick decisions.

"There are a plethora of replica guns on the market intentionally designed to look as real as possible," he wrote. "When replica guns are mistaken by police as real guns, the outcome can be tragic."

Vetter wrote that replica guns are "frequently being used in street robberies" in Baltimore.

"The widespread availability of real-looking and inexpensive replica guns translates to an easily-accessible street robbery tool," he wrote.

Gun-rights advocates and paintball facility operators successfully opposed a statewide ban of replica guns proposed in Annapolis this year.

After Dedric Colvin's shooting, some state lawmakers said they would try again when the General Assembly convenes in January.

www.baltimoresun.com...

a reply to: seasonal

When my brothers, friends and I were kids we all had these AWESOME plastic, real size machine guns. AK-47's maybe? There were some springs and plastic tabs inside so when you pulled the trigger it made an awesome "rat-at-at-at-at" sound.

Anybody else have those growing up?

I wish I had kept one on the side to give to my son.

I see a huge underground market this Christmas !!!

originally posted by: xuenchen
I see a huge underground market this Christmas !!!

I will be searching Ebay to find the same toy machine gun for my son that I had as a kid.

Once again.... you are right, my friend.

Arent all you pro gunners usually spouting the "guns arent toys and should be respected" line?

Im all for banning all toy weapons and I dont see how any sane adult could argue otherwise

a reply to: eluryh22

Yep, we "played war" all the time during the long summers.

The neighborhood kids have air soft that look real, and they can throw out 300 plastic bb's a minute. They are awesome, I wish we had them 30 years ago.

a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

Arent all you pro gunners usually spouting the "guns arent toys and should be respected" line?

Im all for banning all toy weapons and I dont see how any sane adult could argue otherwise

What about history, they talk about guns. And comic books have guns as a theme in them, what about the terms I call shot gun when calling the front seat, and of course you have the bat that rioters in Oregon have used to assault a camera crew, and what about apps on phones that have games with guns, and some legos have guns in them, and movies that have guns and knives in them, what about fake bow and arrows, and then you have nerf guns that are guns but they shoot nerf darts?

Wow, I hope you can help me decide what to ban next?

a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

Guns are not toys.

Cars are not toys.

Barbecues are not toys.

Toy guns are toys.

Toy cars are toys.

Toy BBQs are toys.

Good parenting and imagination take care of the rest.

We had to use sticks, because we didn't have money for toy guns.

Didn't have money for real ones, either.

Banning toy guns, though? That's absurd.
Next thing you know they'll be banning anything that resembles a gun.

Oh, wait...

A "council" would imply that multiple dumbasses came to this conclusion.
Baltimore, I found your problem.

This generation needs laws to protect special snow flakes from doing stupid and moronic things with toy guns.

Years back, parenting took care of stupidity, and they had all types of toy guns.



*


*

Dammit!
Where's my safety pin?!?!

Perhaps the right answer is to just ask the child, "Is that a toy gun," before you shoot them.

FOr the sake of just a little bit of CDF, the Police will open fire at the drop of a hat!

How about instead of banning toys, we ban the assholes who shoot first and ask questions later.

It is just an absurd bit of reversed logic.

"The gun was not real, you did not need to shoot."

"But I thought it was real."

"You are Fired!"


That little 12 year old, the cops just opened up! It is not the kids fault.

The damn stupid cops need to wait and talk it out before they blast away!

It is not the toys that are wrong, it is the police! Shoot first, shoot to kill.

P

So...

"... bill prohibits possession of the replica guns, not their sale, and argues it is therefore legal. ..."

So you can buy and sell them, just not possess them?

Cool. I guess my defense would be I didn't buy the gun, just the box it came in.

Baltimore Police Shoot 13-Year-Old Holding Toy Gun
You are right I found the story and something stinks. It is a pi$$ poorly written story. Give it a once over it is interesting.

A 13-year-old boy was shot and wounded by a Baltimore police officer Wednesday afternoon while holding what Police Commissioner Kevin Davis described as a “replica gun.”

The boy was being treated for wounds that Davis said were non-life threatening.

The teen was shot around 4 p.m. after two plainclothes intelligence officers in an unmarked car observed the boy with what appeared to be a gun, Davis said. The officers identified themselves as police, but the boy fled. Both officers pursued the boy on foot, police said.

At some point during the chase, one of the officers fired on the boy, wounding him, Davis said. He wouldn’t say whether the teen was pointing the gun or menacing the officers.

Davis said the officers had no way of knowing that the boy was not carrying a real firearm, and he had “no reason to believe” the officers acted inappropriately.

Davis said multiple times during an afternoon news conference that the replica gun looked real. He said he looked at it himself and it was a “dead-on ringer” for a semi-automatic Beretta pistol.

The boy’s mother was taken in for questioning, Davis said. “She knew” her son had left home with the replica gun, he said. He added that she described the replica gun as a “BB gun” to police.

The shooting took place on the one-year anniversary of the funeral of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man whose death in police custody sparked outrage around the nation and unrest in Baltimore. Six officers have been charged in Gray’s fatal injury.

Earlier this week, the city of Cleveland, Ohio, reached a $6 million settlement with the family of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was shot to death by police in 2014. Rice was carrying a toy gun.

www.huffingtonpost.com...
a reply to: pheonix358

Perhaps the right answer is to just ask the child, "Is that a toy gun," before you shoot them.

FOr the sake of just a little bit of CDF, the Police will open fire at the drop of a hat!

How about instead of banning toys, we ban the assholes who shoot first and ask questions later.

It is just an absurd bit of reversed logic.

"The gun was not real, you did not need to shoot."

"But I thought it was real."

"You are Fired!"


That little 12 year old, the cops just opened up! It is not the kids fault.

The damn stupid cops need to wait and talk it out before they blast away!

It is not the toys that are wrong, it is the police! Shoot first, shoot to kill.

P

Will children and teens most likely to obtain and bring them into the public stop because someone says they can't have them? Let's see in the end if it really changes anything.

How about the responsibility of trigger happy cops?

Banning things that people think can lead to a threat goes into fascism in the end.

originally posted by: lordcomac
We had to use sticks, because we didn't have money for toy guns.

Didn't have money for real ones, either.

Banning toy guns, though? That's absurd.
Next thing you know they'll be banning anything that resembles a gun.

Oh, wait...

They need to ban stupid .
Far too much stupid out there .

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: eluryh22

Yep, we "played war" all the time during the long summers.

The neighborhood kids have air soft that look real, and they can throw out 300 plastic bb's a minute. They are awesome, I wish we had them 30 years ago.

When there were enough of us around we played war... and it was AWESOME!

When there were just a few of us, during this time of year, we would pretend that all the yellow leafs lying on the ground in the back yard was gold bullion... and as soldiers it was our job to protect it.... firing off shots at our imaginary enemies.
Damn life was good back then.

Didn't have airsoft back then. However, you remind me of two types of projectile guns we had. One was the type that worked on air compression. Did you have those? It was a yellow, soft-ish rubber "bullet" that you would load in the front of the gun... then pull the lever back to create pressure... then pull the trigger and the thing went flying NOWHERE near where you wanted it to go.

The other type was the smaller toy "hand gun" that you would load with the tiny yellow spherical rubber balls in and it was spring loaded..... shoot and shoot (with basically no real aiming feature whatsoever)... until, inevitably, one of the balls got stuck in the spring and you had to get a stick to get it out.

Talk about going off on a nostalgic tangent.....

They wont even let kids have any meaningfull firecrackers anymore either.....
The Freaking Firemen have to set them off!
Remember those six inch bombs they sold back then? imagine a six inch long lady finger about 3/4 of an inch thick
they cost a quarter but oh what a blast....
oops got a little off there......
I used to make all kinds of toy guns we stuck firecrackers into for effect....
Nobody stopped us....or shot us for it....
Toy guns? meh...
better cops..........

Except these kids are 1. Robbing people with them, frequently. 2. "Is that a bb gu-" (rat tat tat) 3. One kid went around with a mace a few years back and attacked people in Patterson park.

Don't hate, this is the best thing yet. Kraft was my councilman for years. He isn't an idiot or a shallow thinker.

If the parents start getting 250 dollar fines, you can bet they won't be allowed to leave the house with one. The ones that don't listen to their parents, nothing will stop them.