Realistic weight. Metal Construction. Comes stock with a side-folder stock and a 28 round mag. Upgrades include 200 and 240 round mags.
Posted on 12/05/2005 3:01:27 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
I must confess that it's probably been two decades since I've done any Christmas shopping for kids. So I was a bit taken aback when I visited ShopKo last week - searching for an action toy for my 4-year-old grandson - and happened upon a black soft air rifle that fires plastic BBs and bears a striking resemblance to an assault weapon.
Yes, the same kind of assault weapon that gangs have used to gun down police.
(Actually, it wasn't a total surprise: Several weeks earlier, a reader had called and suggested I check out some of the sophisticated fake guns now on the market.)
This particular gun was called the Crosman Stinger R34 and, according to a promotional ad I found on the Internet, it's modeled after the "legendary AR-15" assault rifle. Which, it so happens, is one of the many assault weapons that were illegal in this country until last year, when the Republican-controlled Congress allowed a 10-year ban to expire.
So why would a store carry such a gun - especially in Madison, which is having all sorts of headaches with kids bringing BB guns to school?
Jason, a regional manager for ShopKo who happened to be present that day (he declined to give his last name), explained that ShopKo, like many discount stores, carries a wide assortment of fake guns. Everything from the Crosman Stinger R34 and the Crosman Pulse R70 (fires up to 10 plastic BBs per second) - both of which are recommended for kids 16 and older - to the Star Wars Energy Beam Blaster, which is targeted at kids in the 5-to-8 range and shoots something called "silly string."
He pointed out that the Stinger R34, which sells for $59.99, is used mainly for target practice and has been one of the top-selling items in the sporting goods department since ShopKo began carrying it six months ago. What's more, he wasn't aware of a single complaint.
"But there's definitely a level of danger with it," he acknowledged. "I mean, you could easily shoot someone in the eye."
He added that he was almost certain that Target and Wal-Mart also carried the gun. (I checked, and they don't - at least, not at their west-side Madison stores. However, I discovered there are all kinds of fake assault-weapons available on the Internet.)
But what sort of parent, I asked Jason, would buy such a thing?
He shrugged. "I wouldn't buy one for my kid, I can tell you that much," he said.
Now, for all the NRA members who are foaming at the mouth as they read this, I should point out that I'm not an anti-gun guy, that I support the Second Amendment and that I actually did some hunting as a kid.
At the same time, I'll admit I've never had much interest in guns. Probably because my older brother got a BB gun for Christmas one year - just like the dorky kid in the movie, "A Christmas Story" - and actually did shoot a neighbor kid in the eye while horsing around in the yard. (A surgeon managed to remove the BB, but my parents were worried sick for months that the kid's family was going to sue.)
In fact, to be honest,
Mike Hanson, a spokesman for the Madison Police Department, says law enforcement officers have long wondered why stores carry look-alike fake guns. Especially BB and pellet guns that are almost impossible to distinguish from the real thing. (They do come with orange tips, but police say the tips often are painted or removed.)
The problem, he says, is that police occasionally will be alerted about a kid carrying a fake gun in a public setting. "And because the gun looks so realistic, we sometimes have to make split-second decisions about its authenticity - which could lead to a deadly-force encounter."
He notes that just a few weeks ago an officer nearly fired on a teenager who'd pulled a gun out of his pants on Tree Lane on the west side and aimed it at the officer. It wasn't until the kid dropped the gun and ran that the officer discovered that it was actually a BB gun.
"That came very close to being a tragedy," he says.
Hanson says the department can't discourage the sale of BB guns.
"But we can encourage parents that if they have some compelling reason to buy Johnny a mock assault rifle to make sure that it's kept in the house."
Fortunately, my grandson's only 4, so I don't have to worry about these things yet. In fact, after talking to Hanson, I've pretty much decided to get him something sports-related for Christmas - like, say, his first authentic metal driver.
Junior size, of course. And with a small head.
>>I never could get my mom to buy me a cap gun so I would buy just caps and hit them with rocks on the road.
The real ticket was to take a whole box of 5 rolls of caps, and whack it just right with the side of a hammer so as to get most of 5 rolls to go off at once. Hurt your ears and everything.
Ah, to be stupid and 8 again.
See my #60. I haven't played personally, but I have done the paintball thing several times.
"But we can encourage parents that if they have some compelling reason to buy Johnny a mock assault rifle to make sure that it's kept in the house."
Are you joking. Games of "war" have to be fought from yard to yard, or in an alley.
Realistic weight. Metal Construction. Comes stock with a side-folder stock and a 28 round mag. Upgrades include 200 and 240 round mags.
My eight year old is drooling for a German 8mm Mauser.
In simplest terms; he lives in a different world than you and I.
Complaint?
You mean like; "doesn't have enough power and range" ?
or; "Ammo too expensive and hard to find" ?
Like that?
When I read that, I immediately thought of driving tacks. They're metal!
(Designer is not a golfer, but he shoots.)
Wow!, Now THAT's a BB gun!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.