"Water pistols" next on the naughty list?

[Rogerborg]

tl;dr summary - Hackney, 13 year old with a blue-and-white (or pink-and-white) water pistol[*]gets rammed off his bike and arrested at gunpoint, allegedly.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67148208

While I suspect there's a bit more to it than that[*], it's a salient reminder that waving any vaguely gun-shaped-object in public is now absolutely gagging for an over-reaction by the tools of the State.

[*]This is strictly the victimhood side of the narrative, being pushed by what appears to be a BLM offshoot. Similar reports from the US about "neighbourhood water fights" have turned out to actually mean non-consensual shooting of random public victims with gel blasters.

 

[Lozart]

TLR translation - black kid in Hackney gets upset that waving anything gun shaped about in public is likely to attract the attention of PC Dibble.

Another bullshit non-story being pushed to further someone's agenda.

 

[Tackle]

I'm from that area, Islington to be precise but if I crossed my road I'd then be in Hackney. 

I moved out more than 30 years ago but travelled back & stayed there regularly, til my dad passed 9 years ago?, & my strongest memories of the last few visits were regularly hearing gunshots, sirens & low flying police helicopters EVERY NIGHT. 

The days seemed almost normal though, which was kinda weird, but I get why police response borders on excessive in many areas, & as you've pointed out, this is just one sides pushed narrative by an extremely biased group. 

I wonder had a member of the public put in a call regarding "juveniles on bikes carrying guns", kinda call that guarantees an armed response. 

The cynical side of me might even question was the whole thing staged to illicit a police response, that could then be heavily critsized ?. 

 

[Rogerborg]

Gel blasters in a previous incident this year.  Politics aside, this reinforces the point about even IFs being a no-no for public view now.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12168197/Moment-heavily-armed-cops-swoop-group-kids-playing-gel-blasters-Maidstone-town-centre.html

 

[The Waco Kid]

I'm from that area, Islington to be precise but if I crossed my road I'd then be in Hackney. 

I moved out more than 30 years ago but travelled back & stayed there regularly, til my dad passed 9 years ago?, & my strongest memories of the last few visits were regularly hearing gunshots, sirens & low flying police helicopters EVERY NIGHT. 

The days seemed almost normal though, which was kinda weird, but I get why police response borders on excessive in many areas, & as you've pointed out, this is just one sides pushed narrative by an extremely biased group. 

I wonder had a member of the public put in a call regarding "juveniles on bikes carrying guns", kinda call that guarantees an armed response. 

The cynical side of me might even question was the whole thing staged to illicit a police response, that could then be heavily critsized ?. 

Click to shrink...

 Surely not! Who would do such thing? 
 

The magic phrase BLM entered the chat early. ?

 

[Pseudotectonic]

I find it strange that none of these news has the actual picture of the actual water pistol in question, so we will never know how exactly brightly coloured it is

"blue and white and one was pink and white" does not really say anything

I mean for example these water pistol from amazon has a blue and white option, and a pink and white option, and they are arguably rather realistic looking

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electric-Pistol-One-Button-Sprayer-Blaster/dp/B0BWND47S7

Edit: I would go on to say the blue one qualify as RIF because the blue one is not a "bright blue", and white is not an "unrealistic colour" under VCRA

Edit: I mean look at the product video on that page, it is a rather dark dull blue colour, it not exactly unrealistic

 

[hitmanNo2]

Yeah.  You would think there would be the classic tabloid photos with the mother and child showing off the "water pistol" unless the truth isn't quite what is being presented here.

 

[Sewdhull]

Its very difficult for the Police to do anything other than an armed response to a report of guns in a public place. You can't say oh its just kids and and have a bobby trundle up. One day that will back fire.

Mum doesn't want to see what actually happened, just complain about whatever she has heard has happened.

In London there are cameras everywhere and on the Police officers, should be straightforward enough.

 

[Pseudotectonic]

There is only this water pistol on sale that is specifically in the combinations and options of "blue and white, or pink and white"

(not transparent blue, or blue and clear transparent, or translucent blue... notice the use of word white but not clear nor transparent)

It seems Daily Mail would agree: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12649945/Pictured-Water-pistol-black-boy-rammed-bike-armed-police-claims0racially-profiled.html

If you look at the amazon review pictures you can find some actual photos (see below), the pink one we can call it an IF because it is a bright pink, but the blue one is 100% definitely an RIF

I suspect this fact is going to emerge in due course and amazon is going to apply to UKARA as registered retailer

 

[Pseudotectonic]

Gel blasters in a previous incident this year.  Politics aside, this reinforces the point about even IFs being a no-no for public view now.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12168197/Moment-heavily-armed-cops-swoop-group-kids-playing-gel-blasters-Maidstone-town-centre.html

Click to shrink...

In that story, to my eye at least, that particular gel blaster visible in the photos would be an RIF because it isn't a principally bright unrealistic colour.

Which actually explains why the RIF definition exist in the first place, if it is realistic to a certain degree, it can cause a lay person to consider it as a real firearm thus prompting the police to act accordingly.

And having an IF or RIF in public would be a Section 19 offence of Firearms Act i.e. it is an offence for a person to have with them in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse [...] an imitation firearm.

I think the critical factor here is that those water pistols do look like a glock, and that gel blaster a uzi, or could be mistaken as one by someone not familiar with what a uzi looks like (such as me).

[…] realistic imitation firearm” means an imitation firearm which—

1. has an appearance that is so realistic as to make it indistinguishable, for all practical purposes, from a real firearm; and
   

[...]

“Real firearm” means an actual make or model of modern firearm, or something meeting a description which could be used to identify by reference to their appearance a category of actual modern firearms: section 38(7) of the 2006 Act. “Modern firearm” is defined in section 38(8) as excluding any imitation of a firearm “the appearance of which would tend to identify it as having a design and mechanism of a sort first dating from before the year 1870.”

Click to shrink...

 

[Rogerborg]

And having an IF or RIF in public would be a Section 19 offence of Firearms Act i.e. it is an offence for a person to have with them in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse

Click to shrink...

The reasonableness of which is entirely up to the magistrates, judge, or in the case of this Scotch Sheriff, "playing cowboys and Indians".

You're unlikely to be prosecuted or convicted, but clearly you should expect a police response when Concerned Karen calls it in as a fully-semi-automatic-assault-murderiser.