An actor, (something) Lee, was shot at a Halloween party over the weekend. The police were called to the party because of a noise complaint, and one looked into a window. Lee pointed a rubber movie-prop gun at him (there were partygoers dressed as cops) and the cop shot him four times. I don’t know if the cops had identified themselves to the partygoers at that point, but I’m pretty certain Lee didn’t know who they were.
It appears as if Lee thought the police were just partiers in very realistic costumes. Since it was a party in Hollywood and there were actors there, that would not have been an unreasonable assumption. He playfully pointed a rubber gun at them, and one of them thought his life was in danger and reacted as trained. A tragedy. (But since Lee was a Buddhist, perhaps it was meant to be.)
Realistic toy guns are illegal in California. They have been since a guy with a BB gun that looked like a Colt 1911 forced his way onto a news set and forced David Horowitz to read a statement. Horowitz spearheaded legislation to outlaw any non-firearm that looked real. This means that there must be a bright red plug in the barrel, the toy must not look real, and/or the toy must be some bright colour so that it can be identified as a toy. This has been a pain for me, because I wanted to build a plastic model of a Luger P.08. Nope. Can’t buy on here.
Lee’s “gun” was not a “toy”. It was a movie prop. In case you don’t know, most of the guns used by extras in movies are “rubber” (actually silicone). They are molded from real firearms so they are very detailed, but they are much cheaper and there is less liability. When Bruce Willis jumps over a wall, the gun is a prop that can be replaced for a few bucks if he breaks it. When the badguy says, “Throw me the gun.” it’s a fake, with sound effects added later. Obviously Lee, being an actor, had access to a prop gun and used it as part of his costume.
I just heard on the news that legislators are going to “make it more difficult to manufacture realistic toy guns” in California. Hey, it’s already illegal to make realistic guns here. It’s already illegal to bring one into the state from somewhere else. What are they going to do? Make it illegal for prop houses to make props?
It’s too bad Lee got dead. But it was a tragic accident. You can’t legislate away accidents.
Here in Washington DC recently, some charitable group or another took “gun buyback” programs to a whole new level. They gave out basketballs and dolls and other toys to kids who traded in “violent” toys, video games and music. Thank heaven someone had the piece of mind to get plastic swords off the streets.
This kind of stuff really ticks me off. Me and all of my friends grew up with violent video games. We all knew that it was fantasy and were never stupid enough to try any of it in real life. The parents who blame stuff like TV and video games just don’t want to take responsability for their own actions (or lack of action) regarding their children’s upbringing. My parents knew exactly what my siblings and I watched on TV. And they told us what we weren’t allowed to watch. For example, they did not approve of Popeye cartoons and did not want us to watch them. When we finally got a computer, they checked each and every game I wanted to buy, and nixed a few that they thought were inappropriate. We all turned out OK. Whenever you hear about these kids that get really screwed up, it’s almost always the case that their parents never did anything to guide or discipline the kid.
As for the original topic, I don’t know much about the case, but shooting the guy four times sounds a bit excessive. Wouldn’t he be on the ground by the time the fourth shot was fired?
There was somewhere here in Pennsylvania–I don’t remember where–that recently had a “gun buyback” program…for toyguns. The kiddies were supposed to bring in their toy guns and turn them in for candy. I don’t recall who sponsored it–it wasn’t a government–but I remember they said it was supposed to contribute to fighting violence.
(I haven’t heard whether there will be a buyback for kids’ index fingers and thumbs, which would prevent the little hellions from pointing at each other and going “BANG!”)