Reference this map to locate the nearest reconditioning center to you.
Posted on 02/07/2003 6:11:14 AM PST by Indy Pendance
A plan by the Libertarian Party of Manhattan to give away toy guns to New York City children has infuriated city officials, who expect to vote on a proposal that would ban the sale of toy handguns altogether.
A New York City ordinance says toy guns sold in the city must be "brightly colored" and "constructed entirely of transparent materials," but some children find ways around the rules - using black tape to conceal the transparency and other methods to make toy guns look authentic.
The recent death of a 17-year-old boy in Harlem - killed when police mistook his toy gun for a real one - prompted the bill banning toy guns, including water guns - a move the Libertarian Party calls "extreme."
"Playing with a water pistol is one of the most cherished rites of childhood," said Libertarian Party spokesman Jim Lesczynski. "We want to give that experience to New York's children before the spoilsports in City Hall take it away permanently."
The Libertarians' "Guns for Tots" campaign was designed to bring attention to the city council's proposed toy-gun ban. The Libertarians say a sales ban would violate parents' right to choose what toys their kids play with.
"I don't want the government telling my child what kind of toys she can play with," added Lesczynski.
The City Council held hearings on the matter this week, prompted by calls from City Councilmen Albert Vann (D-Brooklyn) and David Weprin (D-Queens).
Weprin and Vann first introduced a bill in October 2002 making it unlawful for any person to sell, possess, use or give away any toy or imitation firearm that can reasonably be perceived to be an actual firearm.
"We shouldn't be glorifying guns by giving them to our kids as toys," says Weprin. "If you spray paint a toy gun black, it will look like a real gun. That could place a child in danger. It's easy to mistake a toy gun for the real thing,"
At a press conference, Lt. Eric Adams, co-founder of a group called "100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care," said police officers don't have the time to examine a gun in the heat of the moment.
"You have four to five seconds to make a determination to save your life, your partner's life, or the life of an innocent person. You don't have the opportunity to feel a toy gun to see if it squirts water," said Adams.
The proposed New York City law is a part of a national movement by anti-gun group to place limits on children's toys, the Libertarians say.
School administrators at P.S. 72 in Harlem told children not to accept toy guns from the Libertarians unless their parents are with them, and the New York City Police Department was also at the school Thursday when members of the Libertarian Party arrived to give away toy guns.
The effort backfired. Angry parents were there to jeer the toy gun giveaway. Some parents called the giveaway "racist," and they demanded that the Libertarians to go back "downtown."
And what, pray tell, is a 17-year-old doing with a toy gun?
Was there someone else he wanted to think he had a real weapon?
Methinks this kid was up to no good - not an innocent these people try to portray.
Someone needs to explain to them that they don't have the authority to do this.
Given that the police up there have shot people holding cell phones, thinking them guns, is a cell phone ban next? Heck, in the dark damn near anything could look like a gun.
(1) Yes, the law banning toy guns is ridiculously stupid and Stalinist.
(2) However, black parents have been told and convinced by all their usual "community leaders" that toy guns encourage violence in their neighborhoods and that having toy guns may cause their children to get shot by "racist" cops.
(3) In all this hysteria, a bunch of white guys from outside the neighborhood - who never do anything else in that neighborhood as a group - come in and start handing out toys that all the gullible neighborhood parents are told are dangerous and a menace.
(4) Result: stupid LPers are accused of participating in a racist conspiracy to get black kids killed, and support for the retarded new law is galvanized. Nice work guys. Next time why don't you buy up a few thousand vials of crack and offer free to the kids? That will do wonders to further your opposition to the WOD.
On the other hand, banning toy guns altogether is a bit much, and likely to be counterproductive.
I would dare to suggest that, among little boys, some sort of gaming involving guns (battle, cops, cowboys, etc.) is absolutely inevitable. Some kids might be satisfied with a "gun" cut from cardboard, but others will be indulged by parents or grandparents with either a realistic toy bought out of state, something carved by grandpa and painted to look real, or maybe an unloaded or defective real gun. It could happen, and the same mistake will recur.
That is the most logical thing to do. If guns are not needed for self defense in NY, then they are not needed, for anyone.
Yeah, how about a law banning stupid police officers, of which is no shortage in NYC. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot...they are HEROES.
When the police can't shoot as well as the general citizenry you know there is a problem.
Yep, great job Libertarians! First in reelecting Tim Johnson and several Democrat governors. Now in exacerbating racial tensions in the ghetto.
What? What? Don't you know that police can do no wrong? Don't you realize that when they put on that uniform and badge they become perfect? That if they shoot a 12 year old lying on the ground in the back, by definition it is a "good shoot"? The If they shoot a guy in a costume through the window at a Halloween pary without ever going in it is a "good shoot"?
The very nerve suggesting that the police could somehow bear responsibility for their actions. You should be ashamed.
You are right. I am guilty of thoughtcrime. I forgot that law-abiding gun owners are the root cause of crime in America. I will voluntarily turn myself in to the nearest reconditioning center for cleansing.
I think that there a lot of re-education centers in NYC, NJ, MA, MD, DC, CT, and RI. If you live in the midwest I understand that Chicago has a lot.
Reference this map to locate the nearest reconditioning center to you.
I was the first kid on the block to play ARMY with a real gun. My uncle gave me a WWII Japanese rifle with the firing pin removed. I thought it was real neat to have such a realistic toy to play with and I don't remember any of the neighborhood parents or kid complaining about it.
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