At a press conference this week, Halifax police and local RCMP once again raised concerns about the issue of very realistic looking “fake” guns.
In some cases these are from the “Airsoft” company and fire small plastic or wax pellets, others are BB guns, which are extremely realistic looking
“You don’t have time to think in your brain, ‘Is that a real gun or is that a BB gun,” RCMP Const. Jody Allison said Wednesday.
An officer would “automatically” go back to lessons learned in firearms training because any hesitation “could be fatal” for a police officer, he said.
Police believe the realistic looking handguns are used by low-level criminals to intimidate others. They can cost from $100-$400, and may be used because they can’t get, or afford an actual gun.
However, “Airsoft” replica guns are generally treated by the law, and the courts as if they were real guns, and using any replica or fake gun in a crime would be treated by the courts as if it were a real gun.
The officers, members of the Halifax Regional Police-RCMP integrated guns and gangs unit, say they’ve seized 262 real firearms this year, and mre than 50 replicas last year.
They said so far the Halifax police haven’t shot anyone armed with gun which later proved to be a replica or fake gun, but add they’re seeing more replica guns on the streets and are concerned about public and officer safety.
In February of this year Edmonton police were cleared of wrongdoing in the death of a woman in 2010 who had been pointing at handgun at them which later proved to be a modified toy gun. In 2012 in New York City, undercover officers shot and killed a man who pointed a replica pistol at them.
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