Cops and robbers is getting dangerous

Gordon says deputies were responding to reports that someone was riding a bicycle and brandishing a handgun. They spotted the rider and ordered him to drop the weapon but instead, Gordon says he pointed it at the deputies.

This sort of thing was unheard of in my youth. Toy guns back then were far more realistic looking than anything on the shelves now, and pointing one at a cop would have only provoked a warning shot from his finger.

I do believe that this is a product of communities forming the notoriously effective "neighborhood watch" which calls for good intentioned folks to phone the police to report anything suspicious, instead of taking some personal responsibility and checking things out themselves.

I've heard that neighborhood watches scare thieves and gang bangers to their very soul. *snicker*

You can't be too safe these days. Besides, determining whether a kid is playing with a toy gun or a real gun is best left to the authorities. They're trained to make such life-and-death decisions.

On that note, what does it say about society in California when the adults are so used to kids shooting each other with real guns that they call the cops on a kid with a toy gun, and the cop responds by shooting him? I see that as backwards progress, personally.

Maybe California just needs some tough laws to make everyone safe. *snicker*