any suggestions

[frnatb]

I am a single mother of two teenaged boys.I encountered an incident with my 13 year old son were he was two steps on the driveway of our home with his BB gun and he placed it on the wooden ledge, and a PH police officer had mistaken it for a real firearm. the BB gun was purchased at a flea market early that morning and I thought it was safe and unmistakable because it had an orange tip. after the police officer had drawn his pistol and ordered my son to show his hands I was sadly mistaken and regretful. As I am watching this incident from my bed room window my life flashed before me. I sprung into action and ran outside and jumped in front of my son and picked up the BB gun of our wooden ledge and yelled this is a BB gun please lower your fire arm. I am trying to figure out a way to change the color, make and model of the BB gun. I had to do my own research online I see that other BB guns unlike my sons does not have an orange tip and look like real guns that can easily be mistaken for a real firearm. I propose a color change like a bright orange or green. I also propose an age restriction. I propose that when the recession is over, if there is enough money in the county budget that a BB gun range be built. I set up a meeting with state rep. Tony Deluca to see if my ideas are legit. Any feed back or comments are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

concerned Mom

[cigarmanpa]

i suggest you read the top of the forum you're posting in:
Support & Suggestions Having trouble with the forum? Want a feature on the site that you don't see? Post here!

[Pa. Patriot]

Moved to general forum

[falcn]

Need more details on the incident.

Why would an officer draw on a teenager as his first response?
What did the officer say when you confronted him?

[ReconLdr]

You or your son can build a safe range in your basement or garage. I have shot air rifles and pistols in the basement for years. You can use a cardboard box filled with newspapers to mount targets and hang a heavy blanket (I used an old moving pad) behind the target with about 6-8 inches between the blanket and the wall. Make sure there is nothing behind the blanket but the wall.(especially gas, oil, water lines)

The box should trap all the BB/pellets and if he missed the box the BB/pellet would go through the blanket but not bounce back.

I would recommned using pellets instead of BB's (if the gun is capable) since pellets deform upon impact and are less likely to richochet.

I am certain there are other methods of building an indoor air rifle/pistol range all over the internet but this one worked well for me for a long time.

[Xringshooter]

...I sprung into action and ran outside and jumped in front of my son and picked up the BB gun of our wooden ledge...
concerned Mom

Dumb, dumb, dumb, thing to do. That policeman didn't know you from Adam. You rush out of a house and grab what looks like a real gun to him, get between him and the person he had at gunpoint, yelling something, it doesn't matter what you yelled, he was concentrating on the other person. You are extremely lucky that you didn't get shot.

Now that said, if you want to allow your son to practice with or use this gun where you can observe, you can go to many sports stores (Dunhams comes to mind) and they sell indoor/outdoor bullet traps that will handle up to 22 caliber rounds. Set it up in the basement or in the backyard, etc. and let him go to it. Or build one as was previously suggested. A public range for this type gun wouldn't be a bad idea, but I'll wager that it will be hard to get built with tax dollars.

[knight0334]

Instead of coloring such BBguns and toys, I propose that LEO's stop treating folks that have anything resembling a gun as a criminal.

[JCWohlschlag]

To address the “some have orange tips and some don’t” portion, 15 CFR Part 1150 is what mandates orange tips for any toy gun “manufactured, entered into commerce, shipped, transported, or received”. However, § 1150.1 (b) specifically exempts BB guns from this mandate. Also, much like the tags on your pillows, once the toy firearm is purchased and possessed by an end-user, the orange tip can legally be removed or painted over (save for any overriding state or local law against it). Some state and municipalities go beyond the federal law and mandate orange tips even for BB guns, I believe, but Pennsylvania does not have such a law or regulation that I know of.

[incynr8]

There already is an age restriction on the purchase of air guns:

(a) Sale or transfer of air rifles.--
(1) It shall be unlawful for any dealer to sell, lend,
rent, give, or otherwise transfer an air rifle to any person
under the age of 18 years, where the dealer knows, or has
reasonable cause to believe, the person to be under 18 years
of age, or where such dealer has failed to make reasonable
inquiry relative to the age of such person, and such person
is under 18 years of age.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, give,
lend, or otherwise transfer any air rifle to any person under
18 years of age, except where the relationship of parent and
child, guardian and ward or adult instructor and pupil exists


I've seen this relaxed more and more with paintball (I have been playing since 1987 and it was difficult to be allowed to PLAY under 18 back then), and airsoft guns.

Airsoft is a new confusion for everyone.

I will suspect the case in question IS an airsoft gun, firing plastic bbs instead of steel shot. Between the nomenclature confusions and the fact extremely realistic air soft items exist to the point of being downright replicas with actual factory parts, it can be come an easy mistake to confuse these realistic models with firearms.

Furthermore many models already are clear with orange tips, or funky colors to begin with, so both of your wishes are for the most part existent fact and even law (heavens knows we need less laws and more personal responsibilities these days but I digress).

The officer overreacted, from your description the minor was not in possession of the "unknown type of propulsion device" and was therefore unarmed, while I respect his concern for public safety and do not know all of the elements of the story, even if it was a real firearm I do not find the actions taken that reasonable, however I am from a rural area where outdoor sports, hunting, a target shooting, including indoor IN town, are normal behaviors.

I'd hate to be that cop, imagine your buddies ribbing you for pulling on a barehanded kid with a plastic airsoft rifle 5-10-15 feet away.......

It's a tough job and you have to make choices fast, he made the wrong one, thankfully his training and mental preparedness was sufficient to bark out orders, assure safety and move on, internally embarrassed 1000x over, but without lasting harm.

We can't 'think of and save the children' by writing words and rules down and calling them laws', only by our actions as a community and nation in spirit of the original, natural laws can we define ourselves as free, educated and caring of our neighbors.

[HiredGoon]

Quote by frnatb
...I sprung into action and ran outside and jumped in front of my son and picked up the BB gun of our wooden ledge...
concerned Mom

Dumb, dumb, dumb, thing to do. That policeman didn't know you from Adam. You rush out of a house and grab what looks like a real gun to him, get between him and the person he had at gunpoint, yelling something, it doesn't matter what you yelled, he was concentrating on the other person. You are extremely lucky that you didn't get shot.

WOW... exactly what I thought when I read that. She is very lucky the cop didn't shoot since he was apparently a little wound up anyway about seeing the gun.