Today continues the topic of the dangers of carrying replica firearms in public as we move from the topic of the killing of 13-year old Andy Lopez in California, to the overall debate of allowing kids have easy access to realistic replica firearms. Thumpy's 3-D House of Airsoft posted a news item at WIFR.com which may just result into more dangers for children.

In the story "Rockford Police: Kids Carrying Airsoft Guns" WIFR reports about some kids carrying replica firearms on the streets of Rockford. The streets of the city is said to gangs roving and violence a regular occurrence. This situation makes the citizens feel unsafe in the streets, and the younger ones, who either can belong to gangs, or just want themselves not to be bothered, carry airsoft guns since the realistic look might make a gangs think twice at approaching them.

The Police are worried of this situation as it may just invite more violence to the kids themselves. One is that they will have to confront armed gangs and they will be defenseless even with their airsoft guns. Two is that they will also be confronted by the Police, and given the incidents of mass shootings just  happening randomly in the US, the Police may just shoot and ask questions later when they see someone carrying a firearm, replica or not.

While the airsoft industry in the area are taking steps to ensure that their customers should treat airsoft guns like the real firearms, they advice that they follow orders of the police when stopped. It is actually legal in Rockford to carry an airsoft gun in public but given the gangs and violence occurring in the streets, anyone carrying an airsoft gun would always be suspect and just might be confronted with a real armed police officer or gang member.

Our worry here is that airsoft guns are getting a bad reputation in the U.S. and while there are steps being taken to prevent misuse of airsoft guns, there is still much to be done. There are already efforts to legislate away airsoft guns which can be easily done if children and violence are mentioned in one proposed bill in any State legislature. The Airsoft Safety Foundation should step up the plate in cooperation with the various airsoft communities all over the USA and conduct more education not to the airsoft community whose members already understand how to treat airsoft guns but to the general public such as educators, parents, and children. It may entail some costs but if done in cooperation with the local government, community, and law enforcement, the costs may just be worth it. It's better spending more of safety education rather than losing an entire livelihood if airsoft guns are banned.