They now want air guns to come in translucent colors, so they look like toys. The only problem with his is air guns are not toys, and should be not treated like toys. They are capable of causing serious injury. What got that 13 year old kid killed was the fact that he was treating something that was not a toy as if it were. The solution is for parents to teach their kids to treat air guns with the same respect they would afford regular firearms.
I’m really surprised that California hasn’t figured out a way to generate electricity from all those jerking knees. It’d solve all the state’s energy difficulties if they could.
What got that 13 year old kid killed was the fact that he was treating something that was not a toy as if it were.
No, what got Andy Lopez killed was the fact that cops know that they can kill anyone for no better reason than their belief that they might be in danger and never see the inside of a jail cell. If, for example, every cop who filled Margie Carranza and Emma Hernandez’s truck and the surrounding neighborhood with bullets were now sitting in jail awaiting trial for attempted murder, do you think the cop who killed Lopez may have taken more than 10 seconds (and that was 10 seconds from when they reported seeing a suspicious person to when they reported shooting him) to assess the situation before he opened fire?
If they started treating cops who shoot people for carrying something that may be dangerous the same way they’d treat you or me if we shot someone for carrying something that may be dangerous, they wouldn’t have to ban realistic looking toy guns.
That’s a bigger issue I didn’t want to get into in this post. The cops claim the kid pointed the gun at them. Maybe that’s not true, and that should probably be for a jury to decide, but if it is true then it goes back to the fact that you don’t point guns at cops… even air guns. Probably especially air guns.
I agree. Unfortunately I haven’t followed up on this story to see what was going on and not too sure that I want to since it is California.
I think both side can draw a parallel to the Nevada school shooting.
On one hand you a marine, trying to talk a kid out of his gun. On the other the kid shot and killed him….
Cheers
Or maybe the lesson is don’t get shot in the back and the butt by a cop. Hard to avoid that for sure.
He got shot in the back and the butt? Can you offer any more information on that?
I know for sure he was shot in the butt: See Here.
Looking for more from the autopsy.
More here
Still no actual autopsy report.
There should be one. If they aren’t even bothering to investigate these things, because surely cops never lie, I would agree with you. I don’t fundamentally believe cops should be treated any differently. But I also won’t, likewise, agree to hold cops to a higher standard than I would want to be held myself.
More likely the information hasn’t been released yet?
To stick to the narrow issue you were addressing – from the spotty information that the press is reporting, it sounds like he was carrying an airsoft gun. Pellets fired out of an airsoft gun are as much of a threat as darts fired out of a nerf gun. If you can hide behind the sofa and shoot your friends on the other side of the living room with one and the biggest concern is getting all the projectiles picked out of the carpet afterwards, it’s a toy.
According to Santa Rosa police Lieutenant Paul Henry: “As the subject was turning toward him, the barrel of the assault rifle was rising up and turning in his direction.” Not pointed at him, rising and turning in his direction. To be honest, if I was walking down the street with a toy in my hands and heard cops behind me yelling, I’d probably turn around to see what all the commotion was about too. If you can now be shot by a cop for turning towards him with a toy in your hands after he’s ordered you to drop the toy, the problem isn’t bad parenting. Oh, and you’ll notice that a police officer, in an on the record comment to the press, is describing a toy as an assault rifle.
I saw the pictures of the Airsoft in question, on various of the websites reporting the shooting.
It was a very realistic model AK – with the barrel cut down to the sight post, thus removing the colored tip that indicated a not-gun.
I can’t blame the cops for thinking it was a real AK-pattern rifle, because it looked just like one.
Um, Andy? Is the standard now that police officers have to wait until they are actually picking bullets out of their body armor before they can fire when someone turns and presents with something that – to any reasonable person present – looks like a real, no foolin’, gun that fires real, no foolin’ bullets that cause real, no foolin’ death?
Hindsight will remain 20/20. And it will be easy, very easy for anybody that was not actually there, not actually involved to pass judgement. I wonder how long those passing judgement would have waited. Remember, the entire scenario is over in mere seconds,,, and with an added dose of high stress.
Preempting all of the judgment passing,,,,,only a fool of a parent lets his/her kid walk the streets today with ANYTHING that resembles an AK47. The photos I saw of that “fake weapon” clearly showed that the traditional orange tip had been removedc or painted over. WHY?? Furthermore, what purpose does it serve for a manufacturer to make such a thing. Cry freedom all you want,,,, some things remain stupid.
Well that’s all we have. The problem is police training and culture dictates shoot first, ask questions later. We need to hold cops to a HIGHER standard than a normal citizen, not less. Cops need to give up this “officer safety” crap. Their job isn’t to get home at the end of the day- its to protect the lives and rights of citizens. Instead they get away with murder, time and time again.
And any idiot could see that the the front site was broken off.
Your quote of “officer safety crap” is pretty much transparent. I see exactly what you are willig to sacrifice on behalf of another. How brave,,,,,,,,,
And as for “The problem is police training and culture dictates shoot first, ask questions later.” ,,,,,, I have quite a bit of experience in this area, and can tell you FIRSTHAND that 99% of cops are totally afraid to even think about drawing a weapon out of it’s holster. I feel it is a bold statement to assume people like to kill. Can’t say I know even one person with that trait.
I’m not sure where you will find these super human beings you demand. LEOs like anybody else are normal everyday people.
You misunderstand. I’d happily sacrifice my life trying to save another. But that’s not what we are talking about here. We are talking about cops who ten seconds after an interaction shooting somebody. It happens all the time, and the “justice” system lets them get away with it.
Well that’s nice you have first hand experience, but maybe you can explain all the situations where the DO just shoot first and then get away with it.
I know they are normal everyday people- and that’s how we need to treat them. Instead we treat them special, with words like “officer safety” and other special privileges.
A lot, possibly a majority, of the people who comment on this blog routinely walk the streets with actual guns, not just toys that resemble guns. I suppose that’s foolish too?
If a cop can shoot a child for starting to turn toward him with a toy that resembles a gun in his hands, how much more legitimate would it be for a cop to shoot an adult whose hand looks like it may be moving towards a real carry piece printing through his shirt?
Yeah, clearly the solution is to abandon all this stupid freedom.
We’re not walking around with a gun in hand. Yes, and I would generally like to have the benefit of doubt too if I’m ever in a self-defense shooting that it was justified. I don’t like special treatment for cops, but by the same token I don’t want to hold them to a higher standard than I’d want for myself either.
Cops get a lot of training on shoot/don’t shoot scenarios so it is completely inappropriate to say they are trained to shoot first. Police culture maybe but who wouldn’t want to come home at the end of the day. High stress deadly situations are definitely an issue that will lead to incidents since it is a cop’s duty to go in harms way. I think what fries some of your commentators (me included) is the different standards that apply to police vs other citizens. Unless a rogue prosecutor like Janet Reno decides to make a political point. Rogue prosecutors are, however, a much bigger threat to non-police citizens.
The police state murders a child with impunity, and as a result, we have to give even more of our freedoms?