Titled:   Fla. Eighth-Grader Shot by Deputies Dies

No, not the Pink Pistols, the homosexual concealed carry group (Armed Gays Don't Get Bashed). This story is about the passing of the Florida teen that committed suicide by cop this week. Much is being made across the MSM that the police should be able to distinguish between a pellet-gun and a regular pistol. Of course this usually happens in a split second - pointing anything at a stressed cop with a gun is never a good idea, even if it turns out to be a wallet, as in the case of Amadou Diallo.

"Toy" pistols are supposed to have an orange tip to mark them apart from their more dangerous counterparts. Many retailers carry a warning such as:

Removal of any warning stickers or any protective markings, such as the 10 mm blaze orange tip will violate federal law and store warranty. Furthermore, federal law states that the use of any look-alike, toy gun in a crime carries the full ramifications of a real firearm.

In the case of the Florida teen:

At a news conference following the shooting Friday at suburban Orlando's Milwee Middle School, authorities put the pellet gun side-by-side with a Beretta. It appeared to have black paint covering the red or pink markings on the muzzle that may have indicated to officers that it was a nonlethal weapon.

Newsgroups still carry advice on removing the colored tip. In a recent article I pointed to a piece on guns of peculiar colors.
I wonder if it is illegal to color the tip of a real weapon orange? After all, the politicians would have us believe that only black guns are dangerous. I would imagine enterprising bank robbers will soon be sporting orange-tipped weapons to give them a few seconds edge on the police and concealed license holders. If they're willing to rob a bank armed, what makes you think they won't apply some orange paint?

Another couple of lines stood out:

"As you can see, it doesn't take a professional to see how close this looks to the real thing. I would not be able to tell the difference,'' said Joyce Dawley, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement special agent in charge of the investigation.

Thus maybe proving she is not a professional, and at least mildly incompetent, despite being a Florida Department of Law Enforcement special agent.

And another:

Patrick Lafferty, a 15-year-old neighbor who has known Penley about six years, said he wasn't surprised by what happened. He said Penley was a loner who "told me he wanted to kill himself dozens of times.''

I would have thought that killing yourself once would be enough, but maybe his Mom told him to aim high.