Quick!

Which ones are real weapons and which ones are toys? You have 0.3 seconds to answer. (Oh, and pretend it's dark out.)

In the time it took you to read that, you might have been shot. Or, if you fired your own weapon, you might have killed a kid with a toy.

Caleb writes about the recent toy gun scaremongering:

I often feel like the cops are overreacting and engaging in histrionics over what amount to toys, on the other hand I also believe that they’re making a valid point.

I agree. On New Year's Day 2007 I wrote about this topic over at Murdoc Online after an incident where kids with toys were nearly shot by deputies responding to a call about men with guns:

The realistic toy, airsoft, and paintball guns are just too realistic, if you ask Murdoc. For instance, if this boy waving the gun while trying to communicate had said the wrong thing or waved it the wrong way and been shot for his efforts, I would have had trouble really blaming the deputy. Thankfully that tragedy didn't occur, but a "blink" is how much time our officers often have to decide whether or not to fire.

What if earlier that week there had been a police officer shot by four men dressed in black in that area? The boys would have had to do nothing different to get themselves shot. What if there had been problems with gang activity in construction sites? What if the deputies had been pulling double overtime due to any number of factors? What if (choose your scenario)? Something totally outside the boys' control and probably outside their knowledge would have changed the rules of engagement just a "blink", and a lot of folks (the boy, the deputy, the boy's family, the sheriff's department, the community at large, etc., etc.) would have paid a very stiff price.

I'm not arguing against realistic-looking toys, but I am saying that those who choose to buy them had better be careful. My kids, for instance, won't own one as long as they're kids. As is usually the case with kids, the majority of the responsibility lies with the parents. Which, as is proven time and time again, means that many kids are in trouble.

At the same time, saying that you can't paint your real gun green or put stickers on it is just stupid.

Confederate Yankee has a great post on this issue, and Say Uncle has a good Note To Self.

Oh, and if you click on the image above you can probably tell which guns are real and which ones are not. Probably.