Posted on 08/02/2006 9:42:22 AM PDT by markomalley
Two Potomac teens were arrested for flashing a toy gun at a woman last week...
(snip)
At about 9:55 p.m. on Thursday, a 29-year-old Rockville woman reported that two boys had aimed a gun at her while driving near the intersection of Westlake Drive and Tuckerman Lane in Bethesda...
(snip)
The brothers were arrested and charged as juveniles with first-degree assault and released to the custody of their father, police said.
Under state law, first-degree assault is a felony that can carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
Using a toy weapon in a crime carries the same charge and possible jail time as using a real weapon, police said.
(Excerpt) Read more at gazette.net ...
Amen, brother mineralman. It is not even nice to point a finger at someone.
I saw teens in the first line.
No doubt youngsters playing Cowboys & Indians and pretending to kill the Indians could get them the death penalty!
I personally don't see it: confusing an Airsoft with the real thing. But that's just me, I guess.
Maybe simple observation and common sense is so rare in Montgomery County that the cops need to focus on it (rather than dealing with gangs, drugs, and other less important issues) /sarc
I have a theory about this. Since Montgomery cty surrounds DC and most of the residents there are dependent upon the taxes plundered from the rest of the country, they worry about peoples' ability to resist tyranny. If actual resistance happens, then they won't be able to swill from the public trough and will actually have to find useful work for a living, so anything that diminishes the power of the people and increases the power of the government sounds good to them.
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Introduced my grandson to that just last week.
"I personally don't see it: confusing an Airsoft with the real thing. But that's just me, I guess. "
I dunno. I used to build model cars and planes when I was a kid. A little jar of black paint and a brush, and that orange disappears. Kids do it all the time. Feels more real to them, that way.
Stupidity. And I find Law enforcement cupable for going along with this stupidity.
Par for the course in the People's Democratic Republic of Montgomery County.
It's a good thing that it probably wouldn't even make it to the point of having charges filed, let alone go to a jury trial then. If I'm stationary at a stop light and have access to my handgun, and can't evade in any way, I'd do what I had to do. Why could you not be sure of what's behind it? Most handgun bullets would have a difficult time making it through two layers of glass, let alone a car body.
I submit that it is stupid 99% of the time to NOT engage a threat in another vehicle if you can't evade. What are you going to do, sit there and be a good target?
You make good points, but the punishment doesnt really fit the crime in this case..for a toy gun NOT used as if it were a real gun. imo.
The context wasnt that they tried to rob a store with toy guns or mug someone, they could be boys playing cops and robbers.
i taught my kids what i was taught...all guns are real, there is no such a thing as a toy gun..........if these kids had pointed it at me, they would be pushing daisies now.
I agree, what happened to all the good cops who used wisdom, discretion, and applied the spirit of the law over the letter?
How exactly do you plan on shooting them?
A. Through your windsheild? Better have a .45 if you want to have a chance of your bullet getting through, then you still don't know where the first one is going due to trajectory change.
B. Stick your arm out the window and fire with no sight picture? Yeah way to know your target.
C. Get out of your vehicle take cover and engage? Wouldn't you wonder why they didn't shoot yet? If they are driving away and you still engage, then you are shooting a fleeing person who didn't shoot at you, you are wrong.
Can't think of a single quick way to do it, and still have confidence I'm doing right. Maybe you can, but your arguments so far do not convince me.
FWIW, the local talk-show radio program here suggested that a precipitating factor in the policeman's actions was the "attitude" shown to him by the father and the two boys. It's possible that had they shown the cop a little more respect, they may have gotten away with just a warning.
Oh that does shed some light.
Sounds about right, I cant blame the cop too much if they
treated him like crap if he had just planned to warn them.
Respect your overlords or they will use their power to "adjust your attitude".
Read the article:
"Inside the car, the officer found two toy guns, one of which appeared to be a submachine gun."
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