"...Tamir Rice had an air gun that was “indistinguishable from a real firearm,” Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said at a press conference Monday. He said that he would support Reece’s bill and that officers often see such realistic-looking weapons on the streets.
Jim Irvine of the Buckeye Firearms Association, however, says the bill wouldn’t be effective because people could paint over the bright colors and because criminals currently paint their real guns with an orange tip to look like a toy so they can gain the upper hand against police.
“It is very dangerous to tell your police officers to shoot or don’t shoot someone based on the color of the gun,” he said.
Hamilton Police Sgt. Ed Buns made a similar comment.
“Anything we can do to try to make people safer is a reasonable process. However,” he said, “what’s going to stop the thug, the deranged individual from going out and buying a can of black spray paint, painting the gun black and pointing it at a police officer or another individual?”
Nice catch by ERIC at SSD, and some very site-specific/region-specific patterns here...or are they? Seems like many have taken to a DIY, DWW (Do It Yourself/Do What Works) approach....no longer slaving to what HSLD units are wearing/using. And, even those guys are expanding camo/gear horizons...opting many times to wear off the shelf materials. DO WHAT WORKS! And, what works for YOU!