First of all I have several pellet pistols that I have bought in the last few years to take care of critters. None of them have any orange tip on them. Second the cops brought their car right up to the kid and immediately shot him. No way they had time to look for an orange tip. If cops would have reacted like this when I was a kid none of us would have survived. In addition to toy guns we had .410s and .22s.
All the reports I have read have said that the gun was the type that was sold with a orange safety tip. If that’s true then someone removed it.
Yes, if you buy a real pellet gun, CO2 or compressed air, in most states it does not get a safety tip.