Thumpy's 3D House of Airsoft™ @ Scoop.it

“…On December 16, 2010, Royahent Gomez Eriza, who was 13 at the time, was playing with two friends in the street in Glassell Park when two LAPD officers saw them while on patrol. According to the police account, the officer thought Gomez Eriza was an adult and was not able to tell his Airsoft gun, which had an orange tip, was only a replica. One of the officers shot Gomez Eriza and the bullet shattered his vertebrae, making him paralyzed from the chest down….”

http://laist.com/2015/08/13/lapd_settlement_pellet_gun.php

“IT’S NOT ALWAYS EASY TO TELL: This past weekend, we got called out to a report of two men with guns outside an elementary school. We arrived and spotted one person with a black handgun. He held tight to the gun and jumped behind a brick column when he spotted us. Then, we saw the other person, standing father back with two guns at his feet.
This dynamic situation had the very real potential to escalate to a use of deadly force. Fortunately, our officers skillfully controlled and de-escalated this situation and safely got these two people to come out without the weapons. The two involved turned out to be juveniles and their weapons turned out to be Airsoft guns, The gun held in the hand of one of the young men had its bright orange tip colored over with black marker.
We ask you to carefully consider choosing a replica gun as a toy for your child or teen. We ask you to educate your children about the purpose of that bright orange marking and let them know it should never be altered. We ask you to talk to your kids about the very real dangers of pointing a weapon at people, even a fake weapon. This scenario could have resulted in a terrible tragedy. Instead, please help us turn this into a teaching moment.
We ask you to share this message with your friends and family….”

“…Police said officers ordered the teens to drop their weapons and two of them complied, but one did not. The teen fled and was later seen hiding in nearby brush with his weapon pointed at officers.
One officer saw the teen from a distance and drew his weapon while telling the teen to drop the gun.

“[The teen] bent his knees and then raised the weapon up,” Greco said.  Once the weapon cleared the grass, officers were able to see the orange tip….”