Deputy Shoots Teen Carrying Toy Gun In Palmdale

CBS News ^ | 5/11/2009 | AP

[RLM]

Authorities said a 15-year-old boy playing "cops and robbers" with a toy gun was shot and wounded by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who mistook it for the real thing.

[gundog]

I'm as anti-gun as the Brady Bunch when it comes to toy guns.

Always wondered why the MSM didn't get all over the paintball and airsoft crowds. Their "playing" actually encourages pointing guns at people and desensetizes people to it. Maybe if they found out that those projectiles were powered by the dreaded carbon dioxide...

[gundog]

I had heard that the stocks were made by Mattel, but that’s it.

Yeah, but that was enough. Take away a guy's M-14 and give him a space-age plastic and aluminum rifle, seeing Mattel on it ain't gonna bolster his confidence.

[stentorian conservative]

Thank you. My Son plays this as well as other “immature” games with younger cousins and friends’ kids who can’t quite take the sting of a paintball.

Maybe he belong on the short bus as well.

[stinkerpot65]

Hmmmm .... Well. Guess they need to keep the toy guns of the short-bus.

[MeanWestTexan]

“As I read this I am thinking of how the grunts on the ground dubbed the “new” M-16 a “Matty Matel” back in the day.”

It is supposedly a myth, but I have had seen (apparently) very knowledgeable weapons people swear that Mattel was one of several companies that produced some of the plastic parts, and that they have seen the “Mattel” stamp on the butt or handgrip.

I have never seen the stamp, myself.

[MeanWestTexan]

It’s a pretty heated rumor that Mattel made the plastic parts for some of tthe M-16s.

Snopes denies it, but, then again, Snopes has lost a lot of its credibility.

[Steve Van Doorn]

Snopes says Mattel didn’t make the plastic parts and Modern Marvels says they did.

Seems there were a lot of manufactures that made the parts over the years. I don’t have an answer.

[Vaquero]

I’m a Garand kind of guy...My idea of high tech is the M-14. But I was just down in my safe and hefting one of my 10lb M-1’s and can understand going to to the M-16 for weight purposes...though I prefer a larger round and though not as accurate I would rather carry an AK than an AR for close quarter fighting
I find the 5.56/.223 and excellent woodchuck round.

Just my opinion.

[SJSAMPLE]

I’ve read a number of books, including “The Black Rifle”, on the subject, and none of them gave any credibility to a single Mattel story.

Sometimes, I watch Discovery and History and even The Military Channel, and constantly slap my palm to my fore head (AGNTSA).

Even saw a very smart, educated and factually proficient professional claim on The History Channel that in Vietnam, the M-16 rounds would “swell in the chamber overnight” and lock up the action. I’m sure he meant something else, but his exact words were bizarro.

[Steve Van Doorn]

Yeah i am leaning in that direction as well.
You would think of all the weapons made someone would post a pic of the Mattel stamp on the plastic that has been claimed is there.

I can not find a pic of the Mattel Stamp.

[SJSAMPLE]

I know guys at www.ar15.com who’ve photoshopped the Mattel logo on the aluminum receiver.

I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody hasn’t had their receiver etched with that logo.

My first M-16 (Army Basic Training, 1985) was a GM Hydramatic. I was seriuosly confused, until I saw the 5x scale M-16 hanging next to a 4’ claymore on the wall. Then I was really messed up.

[Joe Brower]

Being here in Cali right now, this is running quite a bit in the news here. It seems like there are conflicting sides of the story as to who did what when. So the jury is still out on this incident.

My overall observation is that this is just another sign of the sad Era of Unreason in which we live, to wit:

Violent crime among young people, especially with firearms, is out of control in many of America's urban hellholes centers, and cops do die every year at the hands of those the Brady Bunch like to call "children". This grim reality invokes sudden and deadly response on the part of law enforcement.

Law enforcement, on the other hand, often harbors a mindset of "us and them", a division which only adds fuel to the fire. Part of this is simply mental defense ("why risk getting hurt?"), part is enculturated attitude which serves no good purpose.

Also, you tend to fight like you train, and much of law enforcement no longer follows the continuum of force which used to be standard practice. What used to be the last resort is now the first option -- guns, in almost any situation, much less one involving firearms, or what are perceived to be firearms.

A sad state of affairs all around.

And yes, criminals can and do sometimes paint the tips of their gun barrels orange.

[Joe Brower]

When I was with the USMC as an HM2, we often called our M16A1s "Mattels". Every rifle I ever used was made by Colt, though.

[Blue Jays]

There apparently aren't many law enforcement professionals in your family.
You would otherwise not support that risky and very pro-criminal approach.

[wastedyears]

I at least hope it was easily identifiable as a toy gun. Like a multi-colored cap gun for instance. The kids’ family would have a nice case then.

[wastedyears]

Do you let them play with water guns?

[mvpel]

Law enforcement, on the other hand, often harbors a mindset of "us and them", a division which only adds fuel to the fire.

Imagine how much worse it would be if alcohol and tobacco were also completely banned.

[TheOldLady]

"Where in the human anatomy is the Palmdale located..."

I had mine removed.

[TheOldLady]

The boy’s grandmother would certainly never lie about what her precious little special-needs grandbaby did, now would she? And I’m sure that the police frequently go around shooting suspects who comply with their commands. Yeah, we hear about that all the time. [looks up references] ...well, I can’t find anything right now, but I just “know” that granny would never lie about something like that. Really. No! Really.

[goes for surgery to remove tongue from cheek]

[TheOldLady]

All of the police officers I have personally known have a low opinion of people in general, and their friends have to prove themselves otherwise before they're accepted. Guilty until proven innocent.

I think that it is because they have to deal with scum all day long. Traffic officers get a lot of grief from perps who are angry with themselves for getting caught and take it out on the officer. And other policemen see the dregs of society as they are called to fix the messes that evil or careless people make.

I got a speeding ticket on my motorcycle (1978 Yoshimura Honda 400-4), and I was having a respectful dialog with the officer as he wrote the ticket. He tore it off, gave it to me, and waited for "it." But I said, "Thank you, Officer. Have a nice day." The man nearly fainted.

When there is a dispute between a LEO and anyone else, I tend to come down on the side of the officer. If an officer is wrong, it's news. When he's right, it's so commonplace that no one notices.

Thank God for these people who protect and serve us.