A bill to allow officers to more easily identify airsoft guns as imitation firearms instead of real guns, as in the Andy Lopez case, was signed Tuesday by Gov. Jerry Brown. Following the October 22, 2013, shooting of the Santa Rosa teenager, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors prioritized gun and replica weapon regulation in its annual Legislative Platform.
“Tragedy struck our community last year,” said David Rabbitt, board chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “While we are taking action in a number of areas, the existence of a toy that looked like a real weapon was clearly a contributing factor to Andy Lopez’s death.”
A similar bill was considered in 2011 following an officer-involved shooting of a 13 year-old boy who produced a fake pellet gun similar in appearance to a real firearm in Los Angeles, but failed to gain enough support.
The latest tragedy of Andy Lopez’s death compelled state lawmakers to reconsider the confusion between imitation firearms and real guns, Rabbitt said.
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