Faux Guns are crafted in the form of guns, real or imaginary: flintlocks, BFMG's, RPG's, space blasters, M16's, AK-47's, whatever. Though materials and craftmanship are excellent and detailed, they aren't "working models" : bolts don't open, magazines aren't removable. The business end: muzzle, deflector dish, rocket-nose, are painted a brilliant white, as is the broad white stripe encircling the middle, blended in with the design. The Guns are sized for the child, then balanced and weighted proportional to the size (which means that the 20mm backpack Vulcan is just a floor display model, sorry).
Some models may be equipped with a white rubber fixable bayonet. The hair-trigger and loose safety aren't actually connected to anything except a sensor.
They look extremely cool.
Each Faux Gun has a coaxial fisheye vidcam that operates full-time, a USB port for transfer and battery-charging, and comes with a software program to process the video and keep track of usage, as well as a lockable "gun rack" wallmount and a general firearms' safety discipline booklet.
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The FG has to be kept cleaned, once a day the video has to be loaded into the computer, and the FG must be stored in a safe place when not in use, locked onto the rack at night or extended periods of non-usage, and the battery must be kept charged - all the responsibility of the child. Parents are expected to ensure that the child reads, or is read to, the safety book and understands the contents.
Pointing the FG at a person earns the child a civil charge of "pointing a weapon/facsimile", pointing it at an animal gets filed away for later scrutiny; both whether deliberate or accidental.
It is suggested that other breaches of safety discipline earn the child some real discipline.
Any adult in authority, including police, security personnel and local management (bus driver, restaurant manager, etc), may choose to inspect the FG, for cleanliness, battery condition, or just because, and confiscate same (if they don't mind filling out some paperwork soon after) given good reason.
Videos provide the basis of daily progress reports, the software parses the tapes looking for infractions. Meta-information and perceived breach video are uploaded to a central server.
It's illegal to carry one if the person is old enough to be carrying a real firearm without supervision.
The Faux Guns are meant to be carried around by the owner, day in, day out, throughout the program. The hunk of wood/steel/plastic has to be carried around in a safe manner at all times: to and from classes, the library, and must not be left unattended unless there is "guaranteed safe storage" available.
The owner has to deal not only with keeping the faux firearm safe but problems like other kids wanting to play with it or non-eligible adults wanting to see it, and people accidentally or deliberately moving "into the line of fire"; things like that.
But they look really really shiny.
For the gun nuts, their kids develop a second nature for firearms handling. For anti-gun nuts, their kids "get it out of their system". Even for those somewhere in the middle, it isn't a complete waste of time: learning safe control of a potentially harmful tool, and especially one which has no immediate comparable feedback, is a good skill to have; it's comparable to the discipline required to drive a car responsibly.
The program contains no pretension or content regarding civil liberties and responsibilities, nor hunting, military or other armed services. Taking a Drivers-Ed course doesn't imply you're looking to be a cab driver or trucker.
If a child volunteers (or is volunteered) for the program, the results can act as a reference for gun club/association membership status. For instance, a prerequisite for a junior target club might be spending a year in the program; a good report and there's a discount on gun insurance; etc.-- FlyingToaster, May 21 2014 (?) Sunmaid Raison Girl http://www.metzgerc...un-maid-raisin-girl [normzone, Aug 12 2015] you had me until the "civil charge". That's what parents are for.//It's illegal to carry one if the person is old enough to be carrying a real firearm without supervision.// why??//their kids "get it out of their system".// " I don't think it would work toward that purpose. It would be like selling nonalcoholic "booze" to kids in the same bottles. They would get used to the bottles and still want to try the real stuff.-- Voice, May 21 2014 I find this idea slightly unsettling, but cannot think of any rational reason to oppose it. Let evolution decide.-- Twamm, May 22 2014 //civil charge// I meant "criminal charge": pointing a weapon or facsimile at someone is criminally frowned upon. Definitely down to the cop-shop for a deliberate one though, and refreshers for the accidental: charges can be dropped, but it's a rather important bit of gun etiquette not to point it at people you don't actually intend to shoot, under any circumstances. As far as parents are concerned, I think there should be some sort of outside reinforcement as well.
The upper age restriction is to keep somebody from walking into a corner store, snapping off the fake white cap from a very real weapon, and saying "gimme your money". Though, now that you mention it, it would keep oldsters from getting benefit from the program.
// //get it out of their system// I don't think it would work//
You carry 10 pounds of firestick around 24/7, having to be aware what's in front of your barrel, near and far, at every moment, checking for a slipped safety and mindful of the hairtrigger, and tell me the "Don't I look badass with this" won't wear off after awhile, no matter how great the selfies look.
//unsettling// No moreso in reality than kids practising in a driving simulator. It'd look like a giant Airsoft game that hadn't started yet.-- FlyingToaster, May 22 2014 This reads so much like a 1950's sci-fi tale by ...Well, the author is not remembered by the likes of me.-- normzone, May 22 2014 You're thinking Heinlein's Juvies, I imagine: it's the same paint scheme as Starship Troopers, but in pastels.-- FlyingToaster, May 22 2014 I like that this opens the possibility of "faux hunting". It would not surprise me if something of the sort already took place, for those who relish the grandeur of a Victorian fox hunt, but feel bad for the fox.-- bungston, May 22 2014 haw! (yes, it took me an entire day to get that one)
The idea could just as easily be accomplished with a broomstick or twig with a camera attached, or a poorly made toy, but there's the "cool" factor which I think is important to overcome or at least balance.
[nz] do you remember the story ? My SF is mostly '60s onwards but I have read earlier of the big authors. I find pre-1940 a bit difficult to linguistically digest though.-- FlyingToaster, May 23 2014 Just about anything Heinlein wrote prior to the 60's, Farmer in the Sky the scout troops, a bit of Starship Troopers (no, the book)...maybe Have Space Suit Will Travel...as the kid has to learn to refurbish an old space suit etc etc..-- not_morrison_rm, May 23 2014 And all the men could wear a pregnancy pillow.-- daddyvortex, Aug 11 2015 tl; dr-- MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 11 2015 //tl;dr// He said "and all men could wear a pregnancy pillow"; have you no attention span ?-- FlyingToaster, Aug 11 2015 I want a Pho Gun.
This idea is good and all but I'd rather just spray soup everywhere.-- sninctown, Aug 11 2015 You're not the only one who wants one - there's a queue.-- normzone, Aug 12 2015 How about we say that it's only for those who want a real gun. A sort of probationary period. And of course also those who want a Faux gun for it's own sake. Remove the white stripe, and treat them for most legal purposes as real guns.
Then you get all the benefit of the training for people who might need it, and people who don't actually want it arn't inconvenienced. Because otherwise, the child who doesn't want it is going to go out of their way to get it confiscated as soon as possible, to avoid the risks and hassle. First priority - glue the safety in the safe position.
Or you could just add the camera to a real gun - and then you essentially get my (heavily fishboned) reproach minimising gun.-- Loris, Aug 12 2015 //...those who want a Faux gun for its own sake// Exactly; one of the raisons d'etre is as a fashion accessory.
//remove the white stripe// no.
//glue the safety in the safe position// the "safety" on a faux gun isn't connected to anything except a sensor, and its a bit loose so, if you bang the gun against the ground the safety comes off, and you have to reset it.
Nuthin'wrong with adding cameras to real guns, unless you want law enforcement to be able to take a look, without getting a warrant.-- FlyingToaster, Aug 12 2015 /one of the raisons d'etre is as a fashion accessory/
If they are really d'etre then once you et them they could not be fashionable any more. Ooo - Unless somehow people knew you had eaten them and they were fashionable from the _inside_! Like that Sunmaid girl with the pretty hair! You know she is full of raisons.-- bungston, Aug 12 2015 You're right, she's a hottie. She's accustomed to being hit on (link)-- normzone, Aug 12 2015 Well, you also said
//(or is volunteered)//
- at which point I object. As a training tool for people who want to own a real gun, it sounds like it might work well. But if you're going to force it on people then what you have is a method for systemic bullying.
////remove the white stripe//// //no.// Well, okay, but I think the idea of treating them for legal purposes as real guns would be useful. It would deal with //somebody from walking into a corner store, snapping off the fake white cap from a very real weapon, and saying "gimme your money".// Whereas an age restriction doesn't, really - they'd just need an underage accomplice.
//the "safety" on a faux gun isn't connected to anything except a sensor, and its a bit loose so, if you bang the gun against the ground the safety comes off, and you have to reset it.// Right. So if I don't want the hassle of dealing with that and the item is of no possible use under any purposes then I would fix it.Even (or perhaps, especially) people who were in the program because they wanted a real gun would probably consider using a little bit of sellotape. Easily applied, discreet, easily and surreptitiously removed, and removes a risk of failing the program. Probably the only people who didn't tape their safety catch would be the ones who wouldn't need to go through the program in the first place.-- Loris, Aug 13 2015 Thing is, you want them to look cool, but you don't want other people pulling their real weapons out and blowing away an 8year old who's walking around pointing their toy gun at people. Thus the white stripes/design-elements artfully included.
The program's for kids, not adults. Children are regularly volunteered for stuff. (So are adults, of course, but different stuff). The three pigeonholes of participants would be kids who think guns look cool, kids whose parents want them to grow up with firearms, and kids whose parents want to show them how terribly tedious guns are.
It was posted after reading way too many stories about people who forgot that their "fashion accessories" toss chunks of lead around at thousands of feet per second.-- FlyingToaster, Aug 13 2015 //Thing is, you want them to look cool, but you don't want other people pulling their real weapons out and blowing away an 8year old who's walking around pointing their toy gun at people. Thus the white stripes/design-elements artfully included.//
Sure, but putting a white stripe and artful design elements on a faux gun to show that it isn't a real gun is only a 'solution' if we allow the use of quotes with the modern meaning of negation. Either an item is enough like a gun to be a real gun in disguise, or it isn't.
And of course if everyone who has a gun is so well trained they absolutely wouldn't shoot the kid anyway.
//It was posted after reading way too many stories about people who forgot that their "fashion accessories" toss chunks of lead around at thousands of feet per second.// I find that quite astounding. Does that ever get taken seriously? I mean, if the guns are really fashion accessories, why load them?I'm having trouble believing that can be anything other than a desperate last-ditch attempt at an alibi by the mentally challenged.-- Loris, Aug 13 2015 No, oddly enough, there are real live idiots in the world.
I'm not sure using quotes in a projective, rather than strictly passive, sense is a modern invention.
I am, however, positive that the guy whom the cops busted in on (looking for somebody else as it turns out) while he was posing for selfies on a webcam with a loaded 9mm is an idiot.
The idiocy of the kid, who brought an Airsoft to school without the orange cap and was subsequently blown away by the summoned cops he pointed the toy at, was probably pretty evenly distributed between self, parents and educators (but not cops in this case).-- FlyingToaster, Aug 13 2015 random, halfbakery