6-year-old Falmouth girl found with gun in school backpack

I remember driving home one morning from work around the time airsoft was first becomimg popular. Saw a lil fireteam of preteens advancing down the street (tactical sponge bob bathing trunks and scuba goggles), I did a double take when I saw the aks and ars but came to the quick conclusion they were toys. Still they do bother me as they can be a bad gun saftey habit former, but they can also be an great learning tool, not to mention some cheap fun. The "zero" in zero tolerance bout sums it up.
 
So Nerf guns are also a "firearm"?

A reasonable interpretation of the statute is yes, nerf guns, spit balls with straw and rubber bands with anything are firearms. A stretch interpretation but one that may be possible is any water pistol if they treat the water as a projectile. Remember projectile is relative to use and water is projected by the water gun when the trigger is pulled.
 
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A reasonable interpretation of the statute is yes, nerf guns, spit balls with straw and rubber bands with anything are firearms. A stretch interpretation but one that may be possible is any water pistol if they treat the water as a projectile. Remember projectile is relative to use and water is projected by the water gun when the trigger is pulled.

interesting . . . .


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An unreasonable, yet strictly logical interpretation of the statute is yes, nerf guns, spit balls with straw and rubber bands with anything are firearms. A stretch interpretation but one that may be possible is any water pistol if they treat the water as a projectile. Remember projectile is relative to use and water is projected by the water gun when the trigger is pulled.
FIFY
 
A reasonable interpretation of the statute is yes, nerf guns, spit balls with straw and rubber bands with anything are firearms. A stretch interpretation but one that may be possible is any water pistol if they treat the water as a projectile. Remember projectile is relative to use and water is projected by the water gun when the trigger is pulled.

Actually, 269-10j refers to a "Shot, bullet or pellet" - but the ambiguity of water, spitballs and rubber bands remains.

The really big difference between this and conventional firearms definitions is the "by any means" (so spring, compressed air, etc. and not just deflagration count).

It's also worth noting that 269-10j is often enforced "as the police agency wishes the law were written", not "as the law is actually written" - so even lawful behavior can result in a trial just to be given the chance to argue your action was not, in fact, prohibited by law.
 
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"A student on her bus discovered the gun in her bag and reported it to the bus driver.
Falmouth police and the Department of Children and Families are investigating the incident."

So.... They're investigating the case of a student snooping into another student's bag, right?
 
Actually, 269-10j refers to a "Shot, bullet or pellet" - but the ambiguity of water, spitballs and rubber bands remains.

The really big difference between this and conventional firearms definitions is the "by any means" (so spring, compressed air, etc. and not just deflagration count).

It's also worth noting that 269-10j is often enforced "as the police agency wishes the law were written", not "as the law is actually written" - so even lawful behavior can result in a trial just to be given the chance to argue your action was not, in fact, prohibited by law.

Water is the only one that I would consider ambiguous. Nerf bullets are pellets as far as I am concerned as is a spitball. Pellet, without any modifiers to scope it to lead pellet like I suspect it was sold to some legislators, opens up the definition to just about anything given a sufficiently motivated judge.
 
Water is the only one that I would consider ambiguous. Nerf bullets are pellets as far as I am concerned as is a spitball. Pellet, without any modifiers to scope it to lead pellet like I suspect it was sold to some legislators, opens up the definition to just about anything given a sufficiently motivated judge.

Unfortunately, you are probably absolutely right.
 
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