Hawaiian Bill To Make Toy Gun Sales To Minors Illegal
Most American’s agree that selling tobacco or alcohol to children should be illegal. But if Hawaiian State Rep. Scott Saiki succeeds, toy gun sales to those under 18 years of age will become illegal. Something as harmless as a squirt gun will be treated like a pack of cigarettes if the law passes.
Store clerks will be required to determine the age of the buyer and if under 18, refuse the sale. Anyone who knowingly or carelessly sells to a minor can be fined up to $2,000 and may be held in jail up to 90 days. The law doesn’t define what constitutes a toy gun so it would be up to a court to determine if the item sold meets the proposed law’s standard.
The law doesn’t include language that would make giving a toy gun to a minor a misdemeanor, only selling to someone under 18.
Airsoft Guns Back in the News: Declared Real Guns
With everything that is happening in the news with the events in Cairo, the massive snow storms, the fallout from the Tucson shooting, one story has been buried in the news.
The ATF has declared a “toy” a “firearm.” This is extremely dangerous ground, because as we reported last year, ATF has no jurisdiction over what is NOT a firearm. This sets a precedent that ATF can declare something a firearm, and thus regulate or even outright ban it.
This follows the story last year when several dozen Airsoft guns, which have the outer appearance of M-4 carbines/AR-15s, were seized. Various sites online noted the guns could be transformed into real firearms – an allegation that is patently false.
Now KING5.com has picked up on the story this week (Federal agents declare popular toy gun a firearm), and here is what was reported:
“KING 5 obtained a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms internal memo and other documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
“ATF said it ‘evaluated several of these air guns’ and determined they are ‘firearms’, and some even ‘machine guns,’ in the eyes of the law.
“ATF said thousands of air guns meeting that definition have been imported into the United States.
There was an outcry early last year on the Internet and talk radio when ATF took its first public shots at airsoft guns.” Read more
Firing Back: Iraq to Ban Toy Guns
One very surprising facet of life in the Middle East is that children – boys and girls – play with toy guns practically everywhere. It isn’t an uncommon sight to see children with surprisingly realistic replicas of AK-47s and similar small arms.
There was a time when children – mostly boys – played with toy guns in America. Those times have changed as “toy guns” have been viewed with concern in our overly protective society. Of course the traditional toy guns have been replaced by paintball guns and Airsoft Guns – so clearly some kids, including teenage boys and girls, are still interested in playing war. But there are those – such as the Peace Grannies – who consider all “war toys” wrong.
Apparently, those groups think that if we lay down our toy arms that will lead to everyone laying down real arms. We of course don’t agree. Playing “army” is just a part of growing up we feel, but not everyone sees it that way.
This is why it was so jarring when this reporter visited Egypt and saw dozens of kids playing together, all “armed” with toy AK-47s. It resembled a training exercise for a future war, while our youth today play Xbox 360 instead. If war comes, let us hope it is a push button war.
But the times could be changing too. And this gives us hope.
What is very interesting is that this week The New York Times has reported that the Ministry of Health is campaigning to ban the sale of toy guns in Iraq. Technically the ministry is looking to ban cheap air pistols that fire small plastic BBs, but it is an interesting turn of events for a land where it isn’t uncommon to see insurgents wielding real AK-47s next to toy AK-47s.
Four Boys Handcuffed for Using Toy Guns While Filming Student Movie
The Battlecreek Enquirer reported that four Lakeview High School students were charged while making a film with toy guns. The four were reportedly filming a spoof of the A-Team TV series, when the police responded to reports of young men with guns in the woods.
The paper noted:
“All four of the boys complied with orders from the officers, with real guns drawn, police said, but all were handcuffed and eventually taken to the police department for questioning and then issued the disturbance tickets before being released to their parents.”
Was it really necessary to handcuff the boys?
Toy Gun Warnings
New York 1, a local news channel in New York City, is reporting that with Halloween coming up the city is reminding “everyone to avoid fake guns that look real.” We’re not sure who they mean by “everyone,” but given that Mayor Michael Bloomberg is about the biggest anti-gun zealot in the country, he probably means everyone, as in every last person on the planet.
The news channel even offered this tidbit:
“To report a store that is selling fake guns, call the city’s hotline at 311.”
Seriously, we know that they take this pretty seriously, but has it really gotten to the point where people should turn in the local shop keeper for selling a toy gun?
Second Grade Student Suspended for Two Years From School
The mainstream media often claims that “guns destroy lives,” and sadly a toy gun might have destroyed the life of second-grader Samuel Burgos. He was expelled last year from school for bringing a toy gun to class – yes a toy gun. A year later the Broward County School Board, which oversees the Pembroke Pines Charter School, says it stands by its “zero-tolerance police on bringing weapons to school.” Read more
Will Toy Guns Need to Be Registered?
According to a story from down under, toy guns maybe subject to the new gun registration laws in Queensland, Australia. The Courier-Mail, via News.com.au, basically anything that is an imitation or a “reasonable copy” could be banned.
If it “looks like a gun, or feels like a gun” it will have to be licensed by the government. This could take things to extremes, and it could even affect toy guns. Failure to license an imitation gun could carry a maximum $4500 (AU) fine, while incorrect storage could result in a penalty of $750 (AU). That’s quite a bit of money for something that can really do no harm. Read more
Customs Seizes Toy Guns in Washington State
Several news outlets including The News Tribune are reporting that customs officials seized “30 machine guns at the Port of Tacoma.” We’re following up on this for a few reasons. The first is that these guns were copies of M-4 assault rifles, which were actually seized in October of last year. We bring this up because it serves as ammo – no pun intended – to anyone who says that all guns used by criminals must have been legal. Clearly this is further proof that guns can, and likely will continue to be, smuggled into the United States.
But what is really odd is that the Customs & Border Protection is claiming that while these were “the same size, weight and look of the M-4″ these were listed as toy guns. The News Tribune noted:
“On Jan. 25, the ATF submitted its report. It found ‘that in their imported condition the rifles were tooled to shoot plastic balls. However, replacement of internal components with original machine-gun components could be accomplished within a short period of time, thus rendering the rifles capable of firing live ammunition,’ the Customs news release said.”
“Shoot plastic balls” seems to imply to us that these may be Air Soft guns, as not real guns at all. While these lacked the typical orange tips required for such guns, we should note that this is an American law and isn’t follow overseas. Likewise, there is a market for “non-guns” or “counterfeits” as well – as in guns that look the part but can’t be made to fire. Note our choice of words: “can’t be made to fire.”
We’d like to know how any “weapon” that is either not really a gun, or is meant to “shoot plastic balls” can be converted in what ATF claims to be a “short period of time?” Seriously?
What is more confusing is that according to the ATF, a machine gun is a machine gun if it has a receiver. Essentially a full-auto receiver is what makes a gun a machine gun, so do these guns have such a receiver? Otherwise, we can’t understand what the problem with these seized toys could be… unless the ATF is looking to start an Air Soft team cheaply!
Note to the ATF: If it looks like a duck, is the same size as a duck, but is made of wood it is called a decoy, but it isn’t a duck! Keep that in mind when you look to seize something that looks like a gun, feels like a gun but doesn’t shoot REAL BULLETS like a real gun!
Tiny Gun Causes Child Big Trouble
While toy guns have evolved – devolved even – over the years, we sort of understand if these look realistic. Considering that police have enough to worry about we agree that realistic guns can be a problem. But is this about keeping guns safe, or really about teaching guns that all guns are bad. That’s a question we ask because of a story making the rounds this week on how a child in New York City was in trouble for a toy gun for an action figure. MSNBC notes this fact:
“Department of Education policy states that there can be no imitation guns on school property, and a representative said that the principal has ultimate discretion, and this one felt there was reason for ‘concern.’”
So why is a toy gun for an action figure a problem? Is this even an imitation gun? Imitations in our opinion at least would be replicas – as in full-size or approximate size to the real deal. A toy gun for an action figure or toy is just that – a toy. It isn’t an imitation. No one calls a Matchbox car an imitation toy. It is a scale replica, with scale being the key word.
But this is no surprise in New York City, where it is a crime to sell toy guns. Soon we might expect toy stores to ban action figures, or anything “violent,” regardless of whether it is historical. We assume this would mean no knights sold at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has a fine gallery of arms and armor. And soon we might expect that the military planes need to be removed from the U.S.S. Intrepid, the World War II era aircraft carrier turned floating museum. But that’s New York City for you!
Firing Back: Toy Guns Remain Popular in Other Parts of the World
Currently I’m on a working vacation that is taking me to some interesting parts of the world, and recently I was in Cairo, Egypt and Kusadasi, Turkey. In addition to the usual tourist sights, I was taken back by visions of boys (and a couple of girls) playing with very realistic toy guns. While even replica firearms have come under fire in the United States there seems to be no such fear of these toys, which is odd considering that real threat of violence.
The reason I bring this up is that it shows that toy guns shouldn’t really be feared. Yes, there have been some tragic examples where the toys were mistaken for the real thing. But we have become so fearful of guns in the United States that it has made the sight of obvious toys items that need to be feared. This in turn means that boys (and girls) don’t experience this play – and while some would cheer this fact – it also means that a part of childhood is stolen. Yes, guns used by soldiers in war are a horrible thing, but for most of recorded history children have played these games.
As with fighting monsters and battling evil, playing cowboys or cops & robbers is just play. It is something that is part of childhood. The irony also is that Turkey is a nation that has had a military history that is colorful, yet for the last several hundred years one without a successful military tradition. The United States by contrast is a nation that has had a long and successful military history, and yet the liberal element continues to fear guns. Let’s just hope we don’t go the way of the Ottoman Empire, and become a second rate power.
