An uneasy situation - Children & Airsoft not easily identified as such

[rjwrightohio]

Good evening, so a situation developed in my neighborhood which ended with me going over the situation again and again. A "what would i do?" type of event.

Group of boys (~10-15 years of age) were spotted in my area harassing animals with what is presently being reported as airsoft rifles or BB guns. The first person who saw this could not immediately identify if it was a "real" rifle as no orange was easily visible. I will leave the resulting drama out...

So you just left your home, stopping at the stop sign at the end of the street. You look over and your now facing a group of lads aiming their rifles at your vehicle with no identifiable markings suggesting these items are "toys". I racked this question back and forth however for me i believe this would have earned the boys a Darwin award, and me a therapist for my remaining years.

As fundamentally you cant ask "Excuse me sir, is that a real firearm or a fake as i am presently deciding to use lethal force on you". Google searches showed an alarming number of kids doing this to cops. But wanted to see if others would come to this similar conclusion or if i need to relax a bit.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[NotMallNinja]

So you just left your home, stopping at the stop sign at the end of the street. You look over and your now facing a group of lads aiming their rifles at your vehicle with no identifiable markings suggesting these items are "toys". I racked this question back and forth however for me i believe this would have earned the boys a Darwin award, and me a therapist for my remaining years.

As fundamentally you cant ask "Excuse me sir, is that a real firearm or a fake as i am presently deciding to use lethal force on you". Google searches showed an alarming number of kids doing this to cops. But wanted to see if others would come to this similar conclusion or if i need to relax a bit.

I would more than likely not engage them though I'd be hyper vigilant as I departed the intersection (this is without the benefit of the doubt in seeing both the weapons pointed at my vehicle and the facial expressions of the kids pointing them at my vehicle).

[ccw9mm]

Multiple people with multiple rifles aimed in my direction, with me in my car stopped at a sign/signal: no, I would likely not engage.

Does such a situation qualify as the unlawful, criminal use/threatening of lethal force by the assailants? I'd say so, yes. Hence, most statutes would support whatever result occurred to erase the threat. Downside is, community pressure and publicity over such "good boys" being downed would likely be relentless and overpowering. Certainly, one could be "dead" in that community/region forever after, from an employment and social standpoint. It might even be so ugly as to sway the court result.

Could I live with having erased a threat if it turned out the criminal/criminals involved was teen/pre-teen, and/or the weaponry wasn't "real"? I believe so, yes. An unprovoked, unjustifiable deadly threat is just that. I don't think it's really relevant whether the assailant appears to be a given age, gender, ethnicity, whatever. He/she/they is an assailant, engaging in unprovoked lethal threatening of others. It is what it is.

Data point: I've had this situation happen to me, in which one person in a small-ish group of early teens was pointing a handgun of some sort at passing vehicles on a smaller two-lane street (one lane each direction), including at me as I drove by. I only caught a glimpse, but in the rear-view mirror they continued to do it to the next several vehicles as each passed them by. Driving on seemed the simplest and safest approach, given the situation. Called 911. Never heard whether they had been caught, identified.

[atctimmy]

It's not that hard to tell a group of boys playing from a real threat unless you live in downtown Detroit. This isn't SE Asia and it isn't A-stan. Sometimes I think people on this site need a reality check. >>>KIDS PLAY WITH TOY GUNS<<<

A group of boys aged 10 -15 would not scare me at all. Even if I did get scared I would apply my foot to the gas pedal and drive away.

I mean, c'mon. Seriously? The OP borders on insanity. What if they really were a threat? Are you going to draw your HANDGUN and attempt to engage a group of armed attackers from inside your car? Really?

The only real answer IF they were an actual threat would be to get off the X by hitting the gas and getting out of there.

[msgt/ret]

Insure intersection is clear, hammer down, call 911 while departing scene.

[ArmyMan]

Good evening, so a situation developed in my neighborhood which ended with me going over the situation again and again. A "what would i do?" type of event.

Group of boys (~10-15 years of age) were spotted in my area harassing animals with what is presently being reported as airsoft rifles or BB guns. The first person who saw this could not immediately identify if it was a "real" rifle as no orange was easily visible. I will leave the resulting drama out...

So you just left your home, stopping at the stop sign at the end of the street. You look over and your now facing a group of lads aiming their rifles at your vehicle with no identifiable markings suggesting these items are "toys". I racked this question back and forth however for me i believe this would have earned the boys a Darwin award, and me a therapist for my remaining years.

As fundamentally you cant ask "Excuse me sir, is that a real firearm or a fake as i am presently deciding to use lethal force on you". Google searches showed an alarming number of kids doing this to cops. But wanted to see if others would come to this similar conclusion or if i need to relax a bit.

I'd probably drive off and call the cops.

[_Hawkeye_]

The auto is a useful tool. I would give it the acceleration and then call the local police employees

[Ionracas]

This is my airsoft gun. It has a full metal body and is licensed by H&K. Imagine the muzzle painted black, which I did have at one point for some pictures.. Ive handled a real MP5, not much difference to someone who hasnt.

Any questions?

[FLArmadillo]

A. Group of people with rifles vs man with handgun? Handgun loses, save for an act of God.
B. Your car, it rolls pretty fast, and it provides some form of protection. MOVE.

I'd get the hell outta Dodge.

[Walden]

Drive away (quickly) and call the cops. What chance do you stand against multiple "enemies" (even if they are novice shooters) armed with rifles while you are only armed with a handgun? Let the cops figure out whether or not the guns are real

[atctimmy]

This is my airsoft gun. It has a full metal body and is licensed by H&K. Imagine the muzzle painted black, which I did have at one point for some pictures.. Ive handled a real MP5, not much difference to someone who hasnt.

Any questions?

By the way, Im trying to sell it if anyones interested $190 + S&H

Are you ten years old?

[Ionracas]

Are you ten years old?

Ha, no! Ive had it for a while, never used it. No clue why I even bought it. Just looking to waste money in a time when I actually made good money, before I got in to real guns.

[atctimmy]

Ha, no! Ive had it for a while, never used it. No clue why I even bought it. Just looking to waste money in a time when I actually made good money, before I got in to real guns.

Well that's good. I thought you might be one of the kids from the story here to spy on us.

[Ionracas]

Well that's good. I thought you might be one of the kids from the story here to spy on us.

No, I work in a mall protecting thoes kids. But you wont see me, Im only in uniform while in all of the restricted areas.

Sorry to the OP for going off subject.

Id drive away as quickly as I can.

[kelcarry]

You are in your car and you can get away quickly--that solves your immediate problem. per the thread scenario. If you are taking a walk in your neighborhood and a similar situation arises especially if you do not know who they are, IMO, regardless of the age of these teenagers, you assume that the process has begun that could lead you to presume imminent threat. You try avoidance and if it gets closer and become more real you deal with it--that is why you are CC. I am not going to die because a group of stupid miscreants are only 13 or 14--if they have a firearm, be it a rifle or a handgun, and they menace me in what I perceive is an unmistakeable manner, I can reasonably assume my life is being threatened--all bets are off.