Most of the time airsoft guns are made as an exact replica of real fire arms, but instead of bullets, they shoot out lightweight plastic BB's. These fake guns are being used as a cleaner alternative to paintball guns, and were high up on the list of some of the most searched for "toys" on the internet last holiday season. The popularity seems to be increasing because many young teenagers are looking for ways to act out their favorite video games like Halo and Call of Duty, and the more realistic looking the prop, the better.
You might be asking - Okay, so what's the big deal with toy guns? The key issue lies in the fact that so many of these airsoft guns look exactly like the real thing. Many police officers around the country are having difficulties deciding whether or not a person is holding a real weapon that could kill someone, or rather a fake airsoft gun originally intended for play. Many teenagers seem to think that it is the popular thing to do to wave around an airsoft gun to show off and pretend it is the real deal. However it doesn't end up so popular anymore when the police have been called to the scene because a witness thought there was going to be a gun fight.
Congress and certain jurisdictions passed laws more than a decade ago to address how imitation guns affect the number of school shootings. However due to an even higher increase in popularity, I believe that even more laws should be put in to place to protect imitation gun users from themselves. The problem has reached beyond the idea that the more imitation guns there are, the cooler kids will think guns are. The problem now is that the police can't tell what is real and what is fake.(Right now, airsoft guns are ideally required to show bright orange markings to distinguish them from the real thing - however many people paint over them so that they look exactly like a real gun.) - And understandably many officers are not willing to take the risk of always assuming that the gun pointed at their head is fake, so ultimately many innocent lives are being wasted because airsoft guns are now the cool new toy.
I am not necessarily a supporter of strict gun control laws - I believe in a persons right own a gun. However I do believe that something needs to change within the policy of gun control - real AND fake.
1 comment:
I found Katelyn's argument for more gun control laws very reasoned and well thought out. It shows a good amount of researched information, good examples to prove that gun control laws are a problem, and a possible solution to this problem.
The only downside I saw to this blog was her possible solution. She said "I believe that even more laws should be put in to place to protect imitation gun users from themselves." I feel that, if by putting more laws on gun control has caused an increase in illegal gun use, real and fake, shouldn't we try a different route? Maybe we could look into why illegal gun use has increased and see if we could stop the "why" from happening. For example, maybe illegal gun use has risen because the gun safety classes aren't really getting the message across. Perhaps we could focus on making the classes mandatory for all ages, and requiring any gun owners or users to take a safety class every two years or something.
I, as a soon to be daughter-in-law to an avid NRA member, have heard the opposing argument many times. I found this blog interesting and it hit very close to home. Overall, I feel that Katelyn did a good job in presenting her side.
Post a Comment