"SB 798 was introduced at the request of Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck to protect Californians, especially law enforcement officers, from the threat and dangers caused by fake firearms such as BB guns. The accidental shooting of residents, especially minors and young adults, by law enforcement officers and others is a public safety problem. This problem must be addressed as these fake guns are often indistinguishable from real guns and the Legislature must act swiftly in order to protect the lives of the public and the brave men and women of law enforcement."

--- State Senator Kevin De León, Author, CA SB798

Indeed, a very noble intention to protect the lives of the public and the brave men and women of law enforcement. But it is a misguided, or worse, misinformed, intention that can lead to even worse situations if SB798 gets approved on second hearing by the Committee on Public Safety.

The photo above shows a gun that complies with the proposed amendments by SB798 since it has a predominant bright green color. To LA Police Chief Charlie Beck and Senator De León, police officers would be able to discern properly that it is not a lethal weapon. As stated below in the proposed SB798:

(3)    A device where the entire exterior surface of the device is white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink, or bright purple, either singly or as the predominant color in combination with other colors in any pattern, as provided by federal regulations governing imitation firearms, or where the entire device is constructed of transparent or translucent materials which permits unmistakable observation of the device's complete contents, as provided by federal regulations governing imitation firearms.

But then, here's the weapon in full glory,  A 6.8MM AR15 at the hands of a crack shot 13-year old girl made for her by her father.

So would police officers relax their guard when a gun with that color is pointed at them? How about the famous "Hello Kitty" guns? Would police officers be able to say that they are harmless looking toy guns?

We all know the answer. Perhaps Chief Charlie Beck and Senator De León don't. However, cautious police personnel would rather prefer to be on the side of safety, and consider anything that is pointed at them to be a weapon and would react by doing preemptive shooting. As police say, some law enforcement personnel have shot at people pointing a candy bar or a cellphone at them. For a sane person, raising hands to declare no hostile intention is the best way to avoid any potential dangerous confrontation with the police.

What the proposed SB798 does is further endanger police officers and lives of the public, children and adults included. Bright colors are considered "bright, cheerful, and fun", and while we have nothing against bright colors in toys and even food, putting bright colors on firearms and even replica ones would attract the attention of children. If not locked properly away in a gun storage or vault when not in use, and just left lying around, children would get their hands on brightly colored guns as they get attracted by the colors.

For police officers conditioned to treat colored guns as harmless, this would lead to criminals painting their guns with bright colors. This would give them precious moments to act (and perhaps shoot) before a police officer can respond with force. Just imagine the consequences to the health of safety of the police officers.

IT'S ALL ABOUT EDUCATING THE PUBLIC

And good parenting thrown in the mix. Airsoft players are strongly admonished to treat their airsoft guns like the real thing: trigger discipline; always remove the magazine when not in use; make sure there is no round left in the chamber; store the gun in a gun bag during transport; never point a gun at someone; and never brandish the airsoft gun in public places. And added to that, proper protection should be worn.

Optimus Prime mentioned to me about a campaign of a local council in London, England (London Borough of Hillingdon). They have videos being shown on TV monitors in malls and strategic public areas about the careful use air guns and they are not for shooting other people. It works as their campaign reaches a wider public. Parents are advised to teach their children about the perils of air guns without proper protection and supervision.

How about devoting more time and resources to campaigns similar to it in California? The Airsoft Safety Foundation, and together with other organizations of gun enthusiasts would willingy cooperate to undertake such projects with the authorities. All replicas, whether these are paintball markets or airsoft guns, as long as they fire a projectile, should be considered as having the potential to cause harm. The airsoft community knows that, and they take great lengths to make sure that their players wear adequate protective gear, and strictly follow rules that were made for their safety.

SB798 is of no use. There are laws already in place and a shooting community that is willing to help educate the public. SB798, for all its nice intentions, would rather make things worse for everyone in California since it pertains to firearms, replicas and markers included. It is just a waste of taxpayers' money when the State needs more policies to address its massive budget problems, and shooing away the airsoft companies from operating in California with SB798 is one way of throwing away tax revenues.