# You can have my water pistol when you pry it from my cold, wet hands! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 18, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779 "2003-06-18T20:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/21 "2003-06-19T04:36:41Z")
These are still pretty [realistic](http://www.411toys.com/gun.html). _Looks just like a .38 at night! Fun for the whole family!_ Does anyone remember the old SNL sketches with Dan Akroyd as the toy executive? As a child I had a 3/5s or so replica of a Springfield bolt-action rifle. Made from wood and metal, the bolt actually appeared to cycle a bullet. Haven’t seen those in years. ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/22 "2003-06-19T05:08:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > **Does someone have any pictures of these “realistic-looking” toy guns? Because IIRC, there was a federal law passed around the mid-80s requiring all toy guns to be painted in gaudy bright colors and to look as unrealistic as possible.** Here you go: [http://www.airsoftguns.com/springpistols.htm](http://www.airsoftguns.com/springpistols.htm). I wouldn’t say they look “realistic”, though. Just real…especially the ones without the red barrel tips. While I definitely wouldn’t say they should be made illegal, I do think it’d be an extremely bad idea to let your kid play with one in public in general. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/23 "2003-06-19T05:08:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*There are two firsts for me with this thread. This is the first time I ever laughed at one of **december’s** thread titles, and it’s the first time I ever agreed with one of his OPs. > > Let the kids have their damn water pistols. Part of becoming a man is learning to stalk and soak your friends. \*\* Hell, or something like it, has truly frozen over. And I agree, this law’s pretty damn silly. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/24 "2003-06-19T05:14:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Beagle \* > \*\*These are still pretty [realistic](http://www.411toys.com/gun.html). \*\* Bah! When I was a kid (early 60’s) toy guns REALLY looked real. They were even made out of heavy steel. I had a cap gun that not only looked like a colt snubby, it was actually as heavy as one. Not only that, alot of the kids in my town were actually playing with _real_ guns! No shit! Many of our dads came home from Korea with junky surplus Colt 1911 .45’s. They would remove the firing pin and glue a piece of wood in the magazine well and then -poof- a new real toy gun. Not one of my friends ever got shot by a cop. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyDiamond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8491ac/32.png) [@JerseyDiamond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyDiamond)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/25 "2003-06-19T05:20:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*[An Annapolis alderman wants to enact a law that would ban most toy guns in the city and fine parents whose children are caught playing with the toys outdoors.](http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20030617-114826-6331r.htm) > > Her cockeyed justification is:What a goofy idea. If the fine is large enough to deter simulated armed robbery, then it will be completely out of line when applied to a kid playing in his back yard. Why didn’t she just propose a law giving an increased sentence for using a toy gun in the commission of a crime?\*\* Is anybody else bothered by the idea of handing out stiffer punishment for somebody who robs a bank with a toy than for using a real gun? Or am I the only one? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/26 "2003-06-19T06:22:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Demise \* > \*\*Here you go: [http://www.airsoftguns.com/springpistols.htm](http://www.airsoftguns.com/springpistols.htm). > > I wouldn’t say they look “realistic”, though. Just real…especially the ones without the red barrel tips. Must be a Texas thing, I guess – most of the folks I know haven’t even seen this stuff, and none of the toy stores out here in California (the ones I’ve visited, anyway) have anything comparable. And IIRC, the larger toy store chains have a policy of not selling realistic toy guns anyway. (The toy geeks I associate with prefer guns that double as [megalomaniacal robots](http://www.seibertron.com/reviews/g1/megatron/megatron004.jpg) anyway) ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/27 "2003-06-19T07:02:50Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by pkbites \* > \*\* Many of our dads came home from Korea with junky surplus Colt 1911 .45’s. They would remove the firing pin and glue a piece of wood in the magazine well…_\* Now that right there should be a crime. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/28 "2003-06-19T07:04:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > **Must be a Texas thing, I guess – most of the folks I know haven’t even seen this stuff, and none of the toy stores out here in California (the ones I’ve visited, anyway) have anything comparable.** I dunno. I found out about them from computer geek friends in California. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/29 "2003-06-19T10:17:23Z")
Just to make life entertaining, I read in the news about two months ago that cops are beginning to find illegal guns painted in neon ‘toy’ colors. Whee. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/30 "2003-06-19T10:33:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blonde \* > \*\* Water guns should be bright colors and it should be apparent that they are toys – the toy manufacturers need to straighten up their act, in my opinion. \*\* Won’t work. When I was a child, my friends and I would take those brightly colored toy guns and we would paint them flat black. Same thing with the orange tips on toy guns too. You just can’t sneak up on someone with a bright gun that easly. ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/31 "2003-06-19T10:43:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by E-Sabbath \* > \*\*Just to make life entertaining, I read in the news about two months ago that cops are beginning to find illegal guns painted in neon ‘toy’ colors. > > Whee. \*\* I saw one for sale here in Prague a few months ago. I forget the make, but it looked like a 9mm Beretta. The whole thing was hot pink with neon green and blue highlights. So, they are actually being made that way, not just painted afterwards. -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![mooka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@mooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mooka)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/32 "2003-06-19T10:59:07Z")
I think toy guns should be banned in the US, just for the humor value for us foreigners. I already think its quite strange that guns are legal in the US, but if toy guns were illegal as well that would be the icing on the cake… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/33 "2003-06-19T16:41:47Z")
Well, that’s certainly one of the best thread titles of the last month. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee59a6/32.png) [@CrazyMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyMonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/34 "2003-06-19T19:17:45Z")
> [@](#): > > **drachillix:** Maybe you need to consider that there ARE plenty of very young kids out there with REAL GUNS. If a twelve year old kid is pointing what looks like a real gun at you, do you want to bet your life on it being a toy. Yeah, there are kids out there with real guns – more than ever. But despite what you’ve read/heard in sensationalist news stories, half of US kids aren’t packin’ heat. Toy guns still outnumber real guns among 12 year-olds by a HUGE margin, so yeah, I’d take the bet that it’s not a real gun. And if I were a police officer, I’d take the bet that it’s a toy even if the odds weren’t so horribly tilted – that’s their job. They sign up to protect the public, including that child. You want to make that situation more difficult for the cop? Outlaw toy guns. That makes the split-second decision on whether the item that 12 year-old child is pointing at you is a deadly weapon much more difficult if there aren’t supposed to be any toy guns in your city. Remember, it doesn’t have to actually be a toy gun that makes the officer feel threatened: > [@](#): > > \*\* Blonde:\*\* I heard of a motor chase in my area that ended with a man being shot because he pointed something shiny in the officer’s direction. Turned out to be a cellphone, but he’s dead. > [@](#): > > **Mr\_Friendly:** they have shot people for having objects in bags whihc _look like guns_, in one case a guy was carrying a chair leg in a bag and they thought it was a sawn off and capped him. Banning toy guns doesn’t solve the problem as all kinds of items can be mistaken for a deadly weapon. Furthermore, it may only make the “is that a weapon?” situation more difficult to assess. It just doesn’t seem like an answer. Now, a law that imposed a fine on the family for a child that points a toy gun at a police officer (or even just any old citizen out there) would get my support. ---
**Author:** ![Phoenix\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Phoenix\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phoenix_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/35 "2003-06-20T07:27:30Z")
Hell, if you think those pistols linked to above are good, check out some of the toys [here.](http://www.airsoftextreme.com/sanjose1.html) Granted, I doubt many kids are going to be playing with $300+ toy guns. I’d sure love one, though… ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779/36 "2003-06-20T08:25:28Z")
What about that guy who was recently killed for “pointing” a cell phone at the cops? Considering cell phones can also be used to aid in countless crimes maybe we should ban all cell phones too? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-my-water-pistol-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-wet-hands/182779.md?page=1)