New York police kill boy wielding replica handgun, authorities say
New York police kill boy wielding replica handgun, authorities say
A 13-year-old was killed Friday in Utica after police stopped two youths in connection with armed robbery investigation
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It’s interesting that yesterday it was a pellet gun while today it’s a “replica handgun”
It was likely an Airsoft gun, which are often replicas. Airsoft is used by people that do milsim because of how realistic the pellet guns can be; many of them are licensed replicas of the real ones. They're supposed to have an orange tip to clearly identify them as replicas, but those often get painted over by people that used them for armed robberies.
Some people used them as a training aid for USPSA and IDPA, because you can use them indoors, and the weight/mechanism makes them more accurate to life than dry fire training.
Here's a link for a company selling Glock-licensed Airsoft replicas.
IF this article is accurate--if it was really a Glock replica, and if he really pointed it at the cops--then I don't know what people reasonably expect.
...Not to kill a child?
There have been stories as long as there have been guns about police regretting killing children - it's one of the central plot points of Die Hard
Considering soldiers do better, why can't the domestic police on the streets of a peacetime developed country?
…Not to kill a child?
A kid with a gun can and will kill you just as dead as an adult with a gun. They may be more likely to shoot, since they have less developed brains, and reduced inhibitions since they're capable of evaluating the consequences of their actions. Which, yes, gives them reduced criminal culpability (which is why juvenile justice is separate from adult justice), but that's not going to make a shooting victim any less dead.
(And just because I know that shit gets taken out of context, I'm referring to a criminal action rather than negligent action, e.g., a child pointing what appears to be a firearm with the apparent intent of causing harm, versus a toddler that's gotten dad's gun out of an unsecured desk drawer.)
There have been stories [...] about police regretting killing children [...]
See my prior point. Personally, I'd rather live with regret than be dead. Given that the cop in question didn't have any reasonable way of knowing that it wasn't a real firearm, taking a shot seems like a very reasonable choice.
Considering soldiers do better
Uh, no? Soldiers can and do shoot children that are pointing guns at them. We know that the Taliban was using child soldiers, and there were reports that Hussein had recruited child soldiers as well; it is very highly probable that child combatants were killed by US soldiers in both conflicts. See my above point; when someone is pointing a gun at you, and has apparent intent, their age is not relevant.
Look, Airsoft guns are fundamentally not toys. Even when used as intended, they can cause significant injury (...which is why you're supposed to wear safety equipment, and only shoot other people that are playing with you). They should not be sold to children, and parents shouldn't be giving them to their kids.