Don't let your kids play with toy guns...

[anaphylaxis]

Wow. Bad situation for all involved. It looks real enough in the picture; hard to fault the officers for pulling the trigger.

I was told a similar story (with a better ending) by a local officer. A teenager was walking with another teenager with a realistic looking BB gun pointed at the 2nd teenagers head. The officer caught up to them, gave verbal commands which fortunately were followed without hesitation. If not, the officer was prepared to use the shotgun he had at the ready.

I'm not a fan of toy guns. IMHO, they encourage a lack of respect for real firearms with predictable consequences.

[Gman]

I'm not a fan of toy guns. IMHO, they encourage a lack of respect for real firearms with predictable consequences.

...and having been a kid that played a lot with toy guns, I'd have to disagree. We played cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, etc. Nobody ever died and at most was 'shot in the shoulder'. Being a kid and having fun diving for cover is one thing. Graduating to real firearms and learning the respect for them is another.

We also had guidance from our parents about these types of issues with toy guns being mistaken as real, and our parents told us to drop them without hesitation if instructed. Toy guns didn't have orange tips when I was a kid.