Andy Lopez , Toy gun's Lesson.

Can you tell the difference between a toy
gun and a real one?

In the wake of mass shootings , our nation has a problem with trigger happy police.  The word 'Trigger Happy" may not be the right words for Police officers who risk their lives daily in the performance of duty on a daily basis . There is a point however to pause for a moment , and look at the circumstance . Yes a 13 year old boy was shot and killed , but obviously I do feel sorry for the Lopez family . I have to look at things from a different angle . How would you know if Andy Lopez if you saw him that day know that he was carrying a toy. Can you tell? The Police reaction first of all is like the two sides of the coin The shooting is the latest in a long line of incidents of police shooting — and sometimes killing — people  whom they have mistakenly thought to be armed with a real firearm. Last year, police fatally shot a Texas eight-grader who was carrying a pellet gun that resembled a black Glock. The year before, Miami police shot and killed a 57-year old man who had a realistic replica gun after getting 911 calls about the ostensible weapon. “This is not the first time,” says Karen Caves, spokeswoman for a California state senator who has pushed stricter regulations on imitation firearms. “It happens every year.”. They commanded he ( Andy ) "drop the gun" twice, the boy turned towards their voices (the cops were behind him) and they fired as he turned to face them, because turning towards the cops also turned the toy gun, held under his arm, towards them. so they told him twice, and rather than drop it, he turned around towards them with it still in in his arms......towards them as you say. yup, his own fault he's dead ? Second, it is unclear whether or not the deputies used excessive force as it's not been revealed whether or not the boy pointed the weapon at them. Though it's fully reasonable for the deputies to have assumed the supposed weapon was real in the interest of public and personal safety as it did highly resemble the gun it was supposed to replicate, especially with its state mandated blaze orange tip removed. The fact that it was a young person carrying said "replica" does nothing to negate the aforementioned either as it's known that worldwide kids and adolescents are brought into gangs and combatant activities where they are supplied with firearms. Furthermore, the AK-47, which the replica was modeled after, is a high powered assault rifle whose rounds can pierce most low level body armor and is capable of fully automatic fire and is something that is naturally approached with warranted prejudice because of the substantial threat it can pose.  It seems now The FBI is investigating of the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by a sheriff's deputy in Northern California after it emerged that police took no more than 10 seconds to open fire on Lopez after seeing him with a toy pellet gun. So here are the sad consequences , regrettably  . There were numerous California laws broken here and I blame the parents for not a)  Supervising Andy's (a minor) use of a weapon (yes, a BB gun is a weapon), and B)  Enrolling Andy in a firearms safety course.  Had these no-brainer precautions occurred, this tragedy would have never happened.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

California has extensive BB gun laws. California defines a "BB device" as: "any instrument that expels a projectile, such as a BB or a pellet, not exceeding 6 mm caliber, through the force of air pressure, CO2 pressure, or spring action, or any spot marker gun."

Broken law number 1:  It is a misdemeanor in California to sell, loan, or transfer a BB gun, or "BB device" to a minor.  Andy was a minor and unsupervised.

Broken law number 2:  (And this one's a big fat "duh" and says it right in the second part of the last statute line).  Federal law requires imitation guns (including most BB guns) to have special colors or markings. These markings allow law enforcement officers to identify them as fake firearms, and can prevent the shooting of a person armed with a fake gun that looks real.  The orange barrel marker on Andy's gun was removed.

Broken law number 3:  It is unlawful to carry a loaded rifle, shotgun, or handgun in any public place or on any public street in an incorporated area or an area where firing a firearm is prohibited. Furthermore the open carry of any handgun, loaded or unloaded in an incorporated area has now been banned.  What the hell was Andy doing transporting an uncased weapon, especially one that looked real?