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“The last thing Jordan Baylon wants is a fake pink gun,” pressherald.com opines. “Baylon, 22, spends much of his free time dressed in camouflage fighting simulated battles against like-minded fantasy warriors. The custom-made airsoft gun he uses to fire small plastic projectiles during the fights is an imposing metal object – a near exact replica of a M4 rifle.” Nice lead but who gives a damn about Airsofter Jordan Baylon’s aversion to pink? The problem with California’s Imitation Firearms Safety Act (SB 199, mandating that replica guns be painted “pink, red or another bright color”) . . .

is that it will do the exact opposite of what its supporter said it will do. Police officers will be at more risk because of it, not less. But don’t take my word for it . . .

Opponents of the new regulations – a group largely composed of police unions, manufacturers and gun-rights advocates – argue the law will do little to prevent mistaken shootings and could actually make things more confusing for an officers who must make split-second decisions whether to fire or not. . .

“This is a horrible idea that may cause officers to hesitate when confronted with a colored rifle when we already know that fully operable handguns and rifles have been painted bright colors,” then-union president Tyler Izen said in August 2013, pointing to a number of pink rifles on the market. “The law is designed to create doubt in an officer’s mind. If they hesitate, they could be killed.”

The union recently affirmed its opposition to the law. “Our officers have to assume that any weapon, regardless of the color, is fully loaded and capable of shooting live rounds,” President Craig Lally said, adding, “the very last thing we need is for officers to have a false sense of safety.”

In other words, officers have to obey the four safety rules: treat all guns as if they were loaded. And why not? All a criminal has to do to create a moment of indecision is spray paint their black gat a lurid color. Or just use a brightly colored gun, which are out there, somewhere.

Meanwhile, Airsoft enthusiasts will have to have their guns done-up like a whorehouse both post and prior to sale. Like this:

(A) If the airsoft gun is configured as a handgun, in addition to the blaze orange ring on the barrel required by federal law, the airsoft gun has a trigger guard that has fluorescent coloration over the entire guard, and there is a two centimeter wide adhesive band around the circumference of the protruding pistol grip that has fluorescent coloration.

(B) If the airsoft gun is configured as a rifle or long gun, in addition to the blaze orange ring on the barrel required by federal law, the airsoft gun has a trigger guard that has fluorescent coloration over the entire guard, and there is a two centimeter wide adhesive band with fluorescent coloring around the circumference of any two of the following:

(i) The protruding pistol grip.

(ii) The buttstock.

(iii) A protruding ammunition magazine or clip.

Clip! Ha! Question: who in their right mind supported this bill in the first place?

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and the law’s author, state Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, reject such arguments, saying the law’s coloration requirement will help officers determine fake from real.

So LA’s top cop – a political appointee – and Mr. Ghost Gun himself were the driving forces behind the Imitation Firearms Safety Act. Not to mention all the legislators who voted for it and the governor who signed it. Because guns.

Also because gun control laws fly in the face of common sense. And when common sense goes out the window, absurdity comes flying in. This law should be repealed – even if doing so saves just one life. Know what I mean?

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62 COMMENTS

  1. “The last thing Jordan Baylon wants is a fake pink gun,”

    Right… but does he want a real pink gun?

    Pink wouldn’t be my first choice… A nice blue though? Let’s talk.

  2. Didn’t the morons in the legislature not notice that there are a lot of 380s that are pink from the factory for the ladies? Every time you think the California Legislature can’t get any more insane, something comes along and shows we were wrong.

      • Huh???? Dude, they are in Hollywood! That’s what movies are for!

        Thinking they have to go to a gun store to learn about reality, gheesh . . . . . 😛

  5. Serious question. How stupid are these people? Who votes yes on crap like this? Who even considers this?

    THIS is why California can’t have nice things.

  6. I don’t think they’ve thought this law through.

    They mandate that fake guns must come in unrealistic colors, but this doesn’t prevent a criminal from painting his real gun in fake colors, so cops must still treat fake guns as real guns anyway.

    Who benefitted?

    • The makers of dyes for Unrealistic Orange, Unrealistic Pink, Unrealistic Green, and so on.

      Coming soon to a crayola box near you.

  8. If I were a cop I’d want NO change in the law that might WEAKEN my claim to qualified immunity. I’m NOT a cop; so, I’m not interested in tipping the balance in the cops’ favor.
    There are 2 sides to consider: the (kid’s) innocent toy; and, the criminal’s ruse.
    In some of the cases of accidental shootings the cops had some opportunity to observe and consider the indications that the bearer is a youth and that the “weapon” might be a toy. The clearer we can make these situations – to the extent that they occur – the more lives we might spare. ‘Is that a youngster in the woods with a toy?’ ‘Is that a war-game player in a store with an Air-Soft gun?’ Marking toys and air-guns will serve to support parental instruction in muzzle (etc.) discipline in public. When a toy is NOT marked, qualified immunity allows cops to act without the least bit of common sense or restraint where they actually DO have an opportunity to observe.
    More importantly on the legal side, it is reasonable to make it unlawful to mark a real gun in the manner reserved for toys. A criminal needs to calculate the plusses and minuses of falsely marking his gat. If he is caught (big risk) he faces a much more severe penalty for marking his gun as a toy. He has no excuse (e.g., my friend left his gun in my apartment). He heightens his risk on the way to and from the scene of the crime. When he presents his gun-marked-as-a-toy to an armed victim the victim is likely to call his bluff (not a good strategy to undermine the strength of your own threat). The only situation where falsely marking a real gun might be an advantage is when drawing on a cop. Do we PotG really believe a cop would hesitate to fire on a suspect aiming at him? The small plus to the criminal is more than offset by many minuses. Outlawing real-guns-marked-as-toys gives prosecutors extra leverage to prosecute suspects in possession (who might not yet have been convicted of their first felony).
    To claim that the 2A gives me the right to paint my muzzle orange is beyond frivolous. It makes us PotG look utterly irresponsible to the general public.

    • Ok, but tell that to the criminals painting their weapons barrel orange or the dumbass using plastic fake gun with black over or removed orange tip. Three stores near me were robbed at gunpoint the same week I received my cpl, the cops were able to get him because a security camera recorded his plates, he was using an airsoft gun. These new laws don’t stop criminals. Just like most laws passing these days they just make illegal activities more illegal and makes it complacated for those that follow the law.

      • “. . . criminals painting their weapons barrel orange . . . ” Today, there is no reason not to do so if you are intent upon gunning down a cop and want to get the drop on him. Except for the fact that a cop will shoot you immediately, orange or no orange. Think through the scenario. My suggestion to mark toys and air-guns is only to protect a kid or sportsman who is minding his own business at play, walking or in the store. The orange will, in some cases, cause a cop to proceed with caution.

        ” . . the dumbass using plastic fake gun with black over or removed orange tip.” Nothing stops him from doing so. It’s still armed robbery. My suggestion would only add a $5 fine for covering the orange while the criminal is in-transit to the scene of the crime. I never proposed to solve all problems.

        “These new laws don’t stop criminals. ” No, it wouldn’t absolutely stop all criminals. Nor would it solve world hunger. What it would likely do is two things: Dissuade criminals a little in coloring real guns for fear of getting caught in possession. And, add another penalty for disguising a gun. The criminal who carefully thinks-through the plusses and minuses will probably not color a real gun and, in any case, wouldn’t be dissuaded from removing the color from a toy. The criminal who isn’t particularly rational will run the risk of being caught in-posession of a colored gun. That might put him in jail before he commits another crime with it.

        In any case, I doubt that there is much benefit to be derived from upping the penalty on criminals; but, if there is a little benefit, let’s go for it. Doesn’t cost much; unless you are going to try to argue that the 2A bars the infringement on your choice of the color orange.

        I’m much more interested in adding a layer of possible additional protection to kids and sportsmen. Some cops in some situations have a few seconds to observe a suspect with a toy. Some of these will hesitate; instead of running/driving full-speed guns a’blazen. These few cops will size-up the possibility that the subject might be just a kid or sportsman. He might really have just a toy or an air-gun. If there is any possibility of this being true, and the suspect doesn’t seem to be an imminent threat, then they might not shoot until they can get his attention and succeed in communicating to him that they need him to drop his toy weapon. These scenarios fit, I believe, the kid in California a couple of years ago, the big kid recently and the young adult in the store recently. They won’t fit every single accident scenario. Nor will they stop every single cop. Nor will every scenario include a few seconds to observe the orange color.

        A couple more steps are needed. Parents (and other adults) need to learn to insist on maintaining the designated coloring. And, parents (and other adults) need to teach such things as muzzle discipline so that they appear less like they are threats. This latter point also serves to promote good gun-man-ship to children. ‘Look, Jr., you need to learn to handle your toy gun as-if it were real. That way, when you are a little older, you will have ingrained the habits you will need to handle a real gun.’ That’s not going to hurt the gun community at all.

        All of these are modest proposals with modest ambitions. The greatest benefit will probably accrue to us PotG. We will create the image of responsible people trying to reduce accidents. Opposing such measures make us look like we are reckless and indifferent to those who suffer from accidents.

  9. By all means, go ahead California, pass it. Next time the friendly neighborhood robber drops by your favorite shop, he’ll either spray paint a toy gun black to fool you or a real gun pink to lull you into a false sense of security. Go ahead, pass the law and watch it happen within a couple of weeks. *heavy sigh*. You know, I wake up some mornings and honestly hope to see breaking news about that state having an earthquake so violent, that everything from Sacramento southward splits from the mainland and drifts out into the ocean. That would really put a smile on my face.

    • everything from Sacramento southward splits from the mainland and drifts out into the ocean

      The EPA would blow a gasket over the water pollution.

      • The EPA is too busy shutting down lead smelters and harassing red states to deal with the worker’s paradise on the left coast. Every time a self-righteous So-Cal dweeb tells me how enlightened their state is for being so environmentally conscious, I show them pictures of the LA and Dallas skylines, then I ask them to remind me which one looks like Mordor and which one doesn’t.

  10. It’s impossible to underestimate the intelligence of Kevin de Loon. Usually one would need to go to Atascadero State Hospital to find anyone as sensible. As long as de Loon is around, Leland Yee will hardly be missed.

    • Oh that is the absolute truth. These idiots is Sacramento must do a lot of dope to come up with these insane ideas. We need Shall Issue unlike the “oh you made a donation to my campaign so you get a CCL” Like with Sheriff Smith in Santa Clara County. I’ve heard it’s just a mere $10,000. Nothing illegal here, move on.

      • If you want Shall-Issue then work for National Reciprocity. This is the best vehicle to break-down May-Issue.

  12. According to the people who support/created this law, it is supposed to help cops. Cops said they don’t want it and that it will do nothing. State passes bill anyway and it gets signed into law…………………………..

  13. Just reminds me as a youngster who used to play “war” out in the desert and fields near the house. I bought a pair of Luger water pistols at the local 7-11, both in translucent plastic. One in bright green, the other blue.

    I also immediately attacked them with my Testor(™) model paints, coating them in flat black and brown on the grips. In the end I had two rather nice, full sized Luger “replicas” that I could dual wield to vanquish my innumerable foes hiding in the bushes.

    Under scrutiny, I’m sure they were rather awful. Lots of brush marks, “bright green” scratches when the pistol would go flying out of my cold, “dead” hands, etc. The white nylon pump trigger was a dead giveaway as well (they didn’t take paint too well).

    But they were good enough for my purposes.

    • The Lugee and the Wee Gee made by Park Plastics. The Lugee was the luger water pistol and the Wee Gee was a miniature “space gun.” Wow, that was a blast from my youth. Thanks!

        • Was just thinking last week about my luger watergun; it had an actual detachable water supply (magazine). It was the size of an original ‘baby luger’, made entirely of plastic, and from a distance would look like the real thing. It was the only one on our block, and eventually one of my playmates failed to return it after borrowing.

          We also had water pistols that looked like rayguns.

          Fun days.

  15. The flip side is that if this is applied to BB guns, as they propose, it will have additional risks. BB guns are real guns that can hurt or kill. Put an orange tip on it and people are going to treat them more like toys and more people will be hurt by them.

    • Same with airsoft guns. There is a reason that we have to wear full face masks when we play the sport. A stray (or well aimed) pellet can take out your eye, damage your ears, and chip some teeth. We airsofters here in CA don’t like the law because it stops people from treating it with respect, outside of CA many people just paint over the tip. Also remember when the A.T.F confiscated those KWA airsoft rifles because “they could be converted to real guns” that was stupid. PS. I have an M4 KWA airsoft gun in CA, and two pistols! a 1911 and m9.

      AR15.com post about the confiscation
      http://tinyurl.com/kutmnk6

  17. With all the yellow Taurus, baby S##t guns, raspberry rugers and camo pink ar’s I guess the Californiatards think they can “make a difference”. (Did I just coin a new word?!?).

  18. The airsoft community was rabidly against that bill when it was proposed two years ago.

    Many of them respect gun rights as well. It would be cool if some joint effort could be made against morally corrupt politicians.

    • Airsofters are natural allies of the 2A. The vast majority of them are either already gun-fan or are well on their way. Airsoft is a “gateway drug” to firearms. Which might explain why Cali is so bent on making airsoft worst.

      • I love my ‘replica’ Springfield blowback Xd airsoft. I get some really really cheap trigger time because it’s very close to the real one. It’s also a great training tool for the grandkids.

  19. Aside from the stupidly that regularly comes out of California in regards to gun laws.
    If anything that looks like a real gun regardless of its color gets pointed at me.
    Id probably shoot 1st and worry if it was real later, Cops in La La land have enough to worry about as is.
    They shouldn’t have to wonder if the gun being pointed at them, by a teenager is real or not just because its lime green. Just because it happens to be a water gun. I wouldn’t hold a cop responsible for a second.

    • Trust me, Kevin de Leon is no scientist or engineer. In fact, he’s pretty much the definition of null set.

  21. No law corrects stupidity. If you are an Airsoft person and run around outside a game area where you might be mistaken for a wacko, you made a gross error. And indeed the colored gun idea is very very bad. I personally know a law-enforcement person (female) who wants to acquire a colored firearm. And agreed, when the bad guy paints his firearm the same hue, who has the real gun? Stupid gun control makes us all less safe.

  22. So how come the realistic toy guns of the 1960s were never the problem that they are today?
    Realistic toy guns of my youth:
    Luger
    M-14
    Thompson sub-machinegun
    M1 Garand
    1903 Springfield
    Browning Machine Gun with Tripod
    Realistic Hand Grenades

    • Hey I had the Mattel Tommy gun and my brother had the extremely realistic Mattel 38! Check out both on google…amazing 1960’s commercial. Ah back in the day…

    • Anybody remember the plastic pineapple grenade with the metal nipple at the bottom that you could put a red paper blast cap in?

      • i remember all those toys. of course, we had actual adults for parents and our behavior closely monitored. we were not allowed to wander the streets, and definitely not allowed to point our toys at anyone not part of our play group. youth gangs only existed in new york (according to tv), and adult gangs were in new york, detroit, and chicago. the idea of 10yr old criminals was inconceivable.

  23. Looking forward to the news report of “kids” pointing bright colored fake guns at people, and ending up dead. If you think cops overreact now, wait until….

    If you think humans (let alone cops) can accurately identify, on the spot, under possible threat, the difference between real and fake, you just might be part of the problem.

    When I was a youngster, we had very accurate replicas of firearms. one thing we were not allowed (because we had attentive parents) was to point them at people who were not part of the play. We were not allowed to wander around the streets pretending cops and robbers (that was restricted to the playground and private yards). We were deathly afraid of what might happen to us (a spanking) if we pointed our guns at police. In those days, the likelihood that a child or teen would be threatening anyone with a real gun was almost incalculable (we had attentive parents, neighbors, teachers, adults in our lives). Today, the potential for bad actors with guns to be youngsters in pretty high.

    If you are of the mind that YOU can make a proper determination of real vs. fake, maybe you have not had enough guns pointed at you. Survival trumps all.

    So, ban all fake/toy guns? About as practicable as banning all real guns. The only viable answer is unavailable in our society…proper training and disciplining of children and teens. Teaching youth that pointing toy guns at other people (especially cops) will be punished severely. Teaching respect for others (again, unlikely in our society), training youth and teens that there are limits (even if ‘unfair’) to what they can do in certain circumstances (yeah, just try countering the idea that ‘i should be able to do anything i want, without consequence because i am special/me)’.

    To swipe a slogan from someone else, “Liberalism is a mental disorder.” And the consequences are often death.

  25. A perfect example of why fruits, nuts and flakes live in kalifornia. The big criminals are the politicians in the legislature. The state idiot is the LAPD police chief.

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