Just after 7 a.m. this past Saturday, Kenner Police Department 911 Dispatch received a call from a concerned citizen who witnessed a man brandishing what appeared to be a semi-automatic assault rifle on Roosevelt Boulevard. According to Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley, “𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣. 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙮. 𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙨’ 𝙙𝙚-𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩.”

The 52-year-old man was suffering a mental health episode. And, it turns out that he was pointing a 𝗕𝗕-𝗴𝘂𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗥-𝟭𝟱-𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗶-𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗹𝗲 at passing motorists. Said Conley,“𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙜𝙪𝙣𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙜 𝙗𝙤𝙭 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙖𝙨 40+ 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙧𝙖-𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝘽𝘽 𝙜𝙪𝙣𝙨.”

Added Conley, “𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐁𝐁 𝐠𝐮𝐧. 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐁𝐁 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.”

In 1998, Congress passed a law that required imitation firearms to have a blaze orange plug permanently affixed inside its barrel. But a 2015 federal bill that attempted to help police distinguish fake from real weapons by painting a portion of the fake a bright color failed.

In May of this year, NYPD officers fatally shot a man in the Bronx who pointed an imitation “semi-automatic firearm”. The gun resembling a department-issued, polymer-framed Smith & Wesson Military and Police semiautomatic pistol with a laser sight led to police shooting and killing a teenager. A BB gun recovered after police killed an Ohio teenager, was made by Umarex USA, one of the largest air gun and firearm manufacturers in the world and the self-proclaimed “king of replicas.”

Umarex sells BB guns that are copies of such firearms as the iconic Colt Peacemaker, the Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine, and the Umarex 40XP AR-15-style BB gun. Gunmaker Sig Sauer advertises BB gun “carbon copies” of the P226 semiautomatic handgun. The BB gun involved in the Kenner incident was manufactured by a company named DPMS- a manufacturer of actual AR15 rifles for public sale. Said Conley, “𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙖 𝙍𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙜𝙪𝙣𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙪𝙣𝙨.” Efforts to stop production of imitation guns or radically change their appearance have mostly failed because of resistance from gunmakers and gun rights groups, such as the National Rifle Association.