Felony for toy guns? any comments?

[John S.]

http://www.faribault.com/content/teens- ... ny-charges

The issue
Four teens who should’ve known better were caught by police playing with airsoft and BB guns and ended up charged with felonies.

Our view
Police reaction was necessary, given the circumstances, but the felony charges were not.

[xracer390]

Maybe they would not of scared anyone by playing inbetween the houses of the neighborhood (at night) I think they were playing responsibly by picking a public park that only had 2 people in it. Were they hiding behind her or were they 100 yards away? Like another thread on this forum where the kids were acually outside playing and was it cowboys and injuns ? Cool to see it this day in age. In the comments people said......well, now they know better, learned thier lesson. Either that or they now resent authority

[1911fan]

It's petty misdemeanor results.

From reading the article the "kids" are young men.

And toy guns have gotten felony convictions for armed robbery in the past.


I don't understand charging this out as felony's though, that is the realm of the prosecutor and that seems stupid to me.

[solidgun]

I can see how it may have caused "public panic", but it really should not have ended up in felony convictions and ruined four lives regardless of their stupidity.

That said, if they removed the orange marking that should be on the airsoft guns and they were "playing" in public, then it should have been treated as misdemeanor charges.

Maybe they would not of scared anyone

This should say "they would not have". Of is used instead of have in conditional forms due to pronunciation.

[farmerj]

or maybe society has just slide that far south that what SHOULD be a non-issue is blown out of proportion.

A lot of how a prosecutor decides things also depends on how it's presented by the police.

[hoel6466]

Just goes to show that common sense isn't very common these days across the board. At the very least they should have approached the woman in the park and explained what they were doing before shooting the place up.They also probably shouldn't have brought the replica that looked real either.

With three of the four guns being the clear plastic with orange tip type of toy gun, the woman should have been able to figure out what was going on.

Bad decision + (overeaction)^2=Felony Charges? Give me a break...

[tizzo]

Next thing you'll read about is kids getting arrested/detained for shooting at each other with Nerf guns. Why? Because the 911 caller thought they were real.

[xracer390]

That said, if they removed the orange marking that should be on the airsoft guns and they were "playing" in public, then it should have been treated as misdemeanor charges.

Or they were using "vintage" toy guns that didnt need an orange tip.....Am I safe to play with my real gun in public if I paint the tip orange ?

This should say "they would not have". Of is used instead of have in conditional forms due to pronunciation.

FU, I was trying to get this typed out before the back to work bell went off.....I am not an Engrish major !

[SpiderPig]

When I was about 17, some friends and I were playing Lazer tag in the woods near a pretty popular park shortly after dark (the lights look cooler at night). Someone called the police and the place was crawling with squad cars. As soon as we realized that they were there for us, we dropped the "guns" and walked out of the woods to talk to the cops that were there. One of my buddies chucked his so far that we never found it. The police were completely reasonable and were asking about how they work and so on. Before they left, they just told us to have fun.

These days, it seems like we would have been cuffed and charged with something.

Completely absurd to charge these guys with anything. I blame the arresting officers and the law enforcement minds that are so eager to prosecute and or discipline officers that don't make arrests in these situations.

[SleepingJake]

The article won't load on my computer but as far as I'm concerned who cares if they're playing with an airsoft gun in a park? As long as they aren't trying to stick up a McDs and they aren't bothering anyone give them a break..