New Toy Firearm Law Is Explained

— Editor’s Note: James “Rusty” Rusterholz has more than 12 years experience as an Arkansas law enforcement officer. If you have questions, contact him at [email protected]. The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not represent legal advice.

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There is no doubt about it, Old Man Winter has come to pay northwest Arkansas a visit and it seems like he is trying to freeze everything solid.

I remember when my best friend, Greg Goodner, and I were young. We used to play Cowboys and Indians and Cops and Robbers with our cap guns, which we usually didn’t have any caps for, and sometimes just a stick for a gun.

Well, times have definitely changed with the toy guns that are available to kids nowadays. They have made them look so realistic that unless you inspect them closely you can’t tell the difference. But all of that is about to change, and for good reason.

A new law has been put into place here in the Natural State, the Arkansas Children’s Imitation Firearms Act, which was brought about by the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy in West Memphis. Without going into too much detail, he was carrying a toy gun that was thought to be real by a police officer. Circumstances occurred that ended in the boy being shot and killed. This is a tragedy, to say the least. I feel for both the child’s family and for the officer.

When I was a West Memphis police officer years ago a similar thing happened to me, but luckily without injury. I was on a call for an attempted robbery, which upon arrival turned into a foot pursuit alongside an apartment complex. I just happened to be running alongside of the opposite side of the building and met the suspect at the end of the building. He was approximately 20 yards away and in his hand was a gun!

My weapon was drawn and pointed at the suspect.He decided to comply with my demand to place the weapon on the ground and submit to arrest.

It was a toy gun, which almost cost him his life! Had he raised the toy I would have shot him and changed both of our lives forever. It was a realisticlooking gun and especially at that distance you could tell no difference.

The new law is designed to reduce the possibility of similar tragedies occurring. Now all imitation and toy firearms sold must have an orange marking on the barrel or must be a color not generally used for real guns, making it easier to tell a fake from the real thing. But how long do you think it will take before someone spray paints one of these toys so it looks like the real thing?

It would be helpful if parents educated their children on what not to do with a toy firearm. It is sad that this is even necessary, but it is for their safety.

In short, my recommendation is to not purchase these fake guns for the kids. They can use a stick like I used to do. Buy them a pogo stick and call it a safe buy.

Another new law in effect is the Arkansas Cigarette Fire Safety Standard Act, which requires all cigarettes sold in the state to be wrapped in a less-porous paper which causes it to burn slower, making it more likely to burn out before starting a fire. This law is for all of you idiots who fall asleep while smoking a cigarette or are a litter bug as well as a fire bug and throw your still-lit cigarette butt out of the car window.As you can tell I am not a smoker, litterbug or pyromaniac!

The majority of forest fires around the world are started by these rocket scientists who just have to smoke in their vehicles and do not know what an ashtray is for or apparently where it is located in their vehicle.

If anyone is interested in joining the Arkansas Air National Guard and wants honest information, please e-mail me at [email protected].

Opinion, Pages 5 on 01/13/2010