In 2023, more than 12 million BB and pellet guns were bought in the United States. Many have roughly the same weight, markings and finishes as real guns. But these look-alike replica guns aren’t federally required to have any clear indicators that they don’t shoot bullets. In most states they are available for adults to purchase without background checks or restrictions.
Despite not being classified as lethal weapons, having one has gotten people killed.
Just this year, 12 people have been shot and killed by police while in possession of a replica gun. Three of them were under the age of 18. Since 2014, at least 320 people have been shot and killed by police while holding replica guns, according to a Washington Post database and CBS News review of incidents. Nineteen of those victims were minors.
As more of these guns get into peoples’ hands each year, police, lawmakers and activists are struggling to find ways to keep them safe.
Read more and watch segment from CBS Evening News
Linked below, is a news story from the CBS Evening News on October 2, 2024. I was honored to participate in this story.
I am grateful to the CBS team, especially Erin D. Cauchi and Anna Werner, for their openness and professionalism in addressing such a sensitive topic, and for allowing me to help articulate the concerns of law enforcement officers in situations like these.
Many police officers have had to use deadly force in situations where someone pointed a firearm at them… that they later discovered was not a real firearm. It might have been a pellet gun, or a replica firearm, or even a toy gun.
In these instances, it can be impossible for the officer to tell the difference between a fake gun and a real gun. And so, understandably, the officers respond as if it is real gun, and they use the level of force necessary and reasonable in that situation.
The team at CBS News did an excellent job examining this issue, after a 13-year-old boy in Utica, NY was shot and killed by police this past summer. While the officers were chasing the boy on foot one night, the boy drew what appeared to be a Glock pistol from his waistband and pointed it at the officers… he was shot and killed by police.
Here are a few important things to understand about events like these, especially if you are not familiar with police use of force issues:
–> Officers should not be judged using 20/20 hindsight about their use of force; what matters is what the officer knew at the moment the force was used, not what they learned later.
–> Officers cannot respond to someone’s intentions; they can only react to someone’s behavior. They cannot read minds or guess what the person is thinking.
–> An officer might only have a split-second to decide what level of force to use in order to protect their own life or someone else’s. To expect officers to discern minute details of a weapon that is being pointed at them, in order to determine if a firearm is real or fake, is not only unrealistic but may very well be impossible.
I hope this news story helps illuminate the challenge faced by police officers in these situations. I must also thank Terry Pettavino, the manager at Eagle Gun Range in Lewisville, TX, for hosting me and the CBS news crew to film our part of this story. Additional thanks to my good friends Jack Grabowski, Jeff Brouse, Bill Flanery and Eric Harden for their assistance.