Kid with Airsoft rifle causes BEacon Hill meltdown

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Child playing with Airsoft rifle causes stir near State House - Boston.com

A report that a person was waving a firearm in a parked minivan near the State House in Boston this morning turned out to be a 12-year-old boy with a new Airsoft rifle, State Police said. Department of Conservation and Recreation rangers in the State House saw the minivan, a blue 2001 Chrysler Town & Country with Massachusetts plates, parked in a State House loading dock around 11:40 a.m., police said in a statement. - See more at: Child playing with Airsoft rifle causes stir near State House - Boston.com

Not sure I totally blame them on this one. Those things look real
 
If you think there would be a different result elsewhere, why don't you try it?

The thinks are damned realistic looking. My kid has one and I assume that 100% of the people who see him will think its real - they don't notice the orange tip.

I'm not fond of them, but he is, and when we set a high standard for a report card to get one, the little dude stepped up, so we are in. None of the neighbors has said anything: like everywhere else, probably, they are more concerned about dog poop.
 
I want to make clear I'm not in any way defending the current climate here. But this turns out to be far from unique, mitigated by the fact that he was near the capital, not in a school where everyone would presumably know him.

But MA gun owners love a chance to whine about how hard life is.

No one's saying they don't look real. But a police investigation is pure MA.
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Turns out to be a rather common occurrence. The one difference is that most incidents appear to occur at schools.

http://www.infowars.com/airsoft-gun...l-charges-school-locked-down-over-toy-weapon/

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news...ntary-student-caught-with-airsoft-pistol.html


A student bringing a weapon to a Milford school is uncommon but it has happened in the past, he said.

Bonaccorsi said the airsoft pistol did not appear to be a real gun, because it was clear plastic and you ”could see the spring-loaded mechanism” inside.

He said this was the first incident in which a gun was brought to school in his 20 years as a Milford elementary school principal.

In recent years, police officers in Texas, California, Maryland, Florida and elsewhere have shot children and adults armed with what they believed were handguns but that were determined later to be BB guns or other types of air pistols, according to a recent story in the New York Times. That story reported the death of a Brownsville, Tex. eighth grader who was shot and killed by police while he was holding pellet gun.
 
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...*Insert picture of people open-carrying rifles in front of NH government buildings here*

No one's saying they don't look real. But a police investigation is pure MA.

I don't think its that far fetched that regardless of the state you are in, if you were in the back of van pointing a rifle "around" you can expect a different response than if you happen to be walkng around with a rifle as part of an "open carry event" at the exact same location...

Reported by Rangers, 11:40 AM. Found by Troopers, 1:30 PM. When seconds count!

Yeah, the nearly 2 hours to respond to a vehicle in a State House loading dock....how hard could it have been to find a 13 year old minivan?

Two hours to locate the van, not two hours to respond... State wide BOLO went out for the vehicle right around noon, pretty sure it wasn't just sitting in the same spot DCR saw it...
 
I don't think its that far fetched that regardless of the state you are in, if you were in the back of van pointing a rifle "around" you can expect a different response than if you happen to be walkng around with a rifle as part of an "open carry event" at the exact same location...






Two hours to locate the van, not two hours to respond... State wide BOLO went out for the vehicle right around noon, pretty sure it wasn't just sitting in the same spot DCR saw it...

It was in a loading dock. If it was such a "Threat" why did they not just block it in? And, if my house were on fire, or I had an unsavory character at my door....response time would be from my call to when they arrived, not when they were dispatched, or when the fire was out, or the guy was in cuffs.

I'm not a security professional, but the OMG!!!! GUN!!!!! reaction seems a bit overblown in the light of the time between someone noticing the "problem" and the resolution, such as it was. IIRC the Burlington PD was much quicker when an Assault Umbrella appeared at the mall.. and that's not a "secure" location.
 
... And, if my house were on fire, or I had an unsavory character at my door....response time would be from my call to when they arrived, not when they were dispatched, or when the fire was out, or the guy was in cuffs...

Exactly, report made, PD responds/arrives, vehicle not in same spot it was reported, statewide BOLO put out, vehicle located...
 
Maybe I should clarify, I am not talking a radio broadcast, I am talking about a BOLO going out over the "teletype" (which isn't teletype, anymore) 15 minutes is pretty fast...


Please...Boston PD should have been there in less than 5 minutes. And that's giving them time to don their tactical gear. You seem to know a lot about this. Did you don your tactical gear as well?
 
Was Boston shut down for those 2 hours? buses running?

I live farting distance from where this happened and didn't even notice. Would hardly call it a meltdown. I think they just questioned the family, found out it wasn't a real threat and that was it.
 
I am reminded of the response to the light brite toys that were set up all over Boston.

<Insert pic of little alien with middle finger up>

Would painting orange on the muzzle buy a terrorist a few extra seconds?
 
Reported on news after Patriots victory: they found the boy, confirmed it was an AirSoft. Family is from Abington, Mom said on TV it was "Embarrassing" and boy intends to write letter of apology to someone.

And by universal hub:

UPDATE: The Globe reports the man with gun was, in fact, a kid with a new pellet gun. No word if his name was Ralphie or if he was warned about shooting his eye out.
 
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Many years ago in Dartmouth the police were called about three black men in a white van with shotguns. They were surrounded outside a building and thrown down to the ground, handled pretty heavily (basically mistreated) and arrested. Turns out their shotguns were mop handles and they were three black clergymen that had a cleaning business at night! Can't remember the outcome but I believe one cop told the truth about the others who were doing the mistreating.
 
I don't see anything wrong with investigating a report of someone with a gun as long as they do the right thing once the investigation is over.
 
Irritating:

So, if one is transporting a non-large capacity long gun (or airsoft, or, apparently, mops) within the requirements of the MGLs, you're cool with them being pulled over and "investigated"?

What level of "investigating" are we talking about? Traffic stop? State-wide BOLO? Full tactical turnout? If someone sees an NRA sticker on your car, is that sufficient? Or just a long cardboard box with "Remington" on it, on your back seat?

Oh, and assuming that the news got the correct entrance to the Statehouse, the loading dock appears to be one of the enclosed ones, where one person or vehicle could close it off.
 
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