Pending Michigan bill would criminalize alteration of fake guns By Joshua Rhett Miller Published February 22, 2012
Possessing imitation firearms altered to look like authentic guns could result in real consequences if pending legislation in Michigan is passed. The bill, S.B. 779, which could be voted upon in the Senate as early as Thursday, would amend Michigan the law to penalize the use of an imitation firearm in a crime if its required colored markings are removed, disguised or concealed. If passed, the bill would also ban real firearms from being doctored to look like a toy.
The sponsor of S.B. 779, state Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, said an updated version of his bill does not criminalize mere possession of altered imitation guns, but rather possession of them in commission of a crime. "There's a lot of support for it," he told FoxNews.com. "We're not trying to go after kids with this, we're trying to make them safe." Republican State Sen. Rick Jones, who is sponsoring a related bill that bans brandishing a real or fake gun in public, said the legislation is necessary because an imitation gun can be easily mistaken for the real thing if it does not have colored markings -- typically bright orange -- on the tip of its barrel. "We're not talking about a child's toy," Jones told FoxNews.com. "These new imitation guns they make look exactly like a real gun. And if the orange tip is cut off, to everyone around them, they're going to look like a real gun." Jones, who is sponsoring S.B. 780 -- which bans brandishing altered imitation handguns -- said fake guns are growing in prevalence among gangs, particularly in Southeast Michigan. Hopgood has cited a close call in Taylor, Mich., in which young teenagers playing with fake guns a few years ago prompted some -- including responding police officers -- to believe the guns were real. Taylor Police Chief Dale Tamsen, meanwhile, has testified in support of the legislation, saying that tampering with an imitation firearm can make it "virtually impossible" to distinguish them from authentic handguns. More recently, in Warren, Mich., an 8- and 10-year-old boy robbed five elementary school students of candy and chips while using a fake gun. No one was injured in the December incident, but at least one victim reportedly told police they thought the toy gun was real......................>>>>.............>>>>............Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....stnews#ixzz1nCqhVXWs
IF FAKE GUNS ARE BANNED... ONLY FAKE CRIMINALS WILL HAVE FAKE GUNS!
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I have no problem with the updated version, if they use them in a crime they should have the book thrown at them. Won't I don't like is making it illegal to alter real firearms to what "they say" looks like a toy, that is to broad of a statement. There is an increasing market for guns suited more towards women which in many cases the guns are painted or duracoated different colors. If it is legal for them to own the gun the government shouldn't have a say on what color the gun must be. The left used to b!tch and complain about black guns because they look to dangerous, now they have problems with colored guns
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
But if I am "urban" I can write poems about killing cops and be invited to the White House. Interesting point. Maybe they will need to ban movies that have guns, and make it illegal to simulate violence in art too. That is where we are heading, and Hollywood is supporting the use of the rope on others that will hang them one day too.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
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