Fake guns on the way out

St. Paul aims to ban fake guns that look real, and no one seems to mind. As St. Paul plans to ban public possession of real-looking firearms, Gander Mountain has said it will pull all realistic replica guns from store shelves across Minnesota and eventually nationwide.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and City Council Member Lee Helgen held a press conference showing 21 handguns, and the real ones and the fakes were hard to differentiate. The City Council is expected to introduce an ordinance Wednesday banning public possession of the fake models, similar to an existing  ban on BB and pellet guns.

City Council Member Dave Thune said in an e-mail, “The best — the very best gun tragedy prevention activity happens at home!” He said the media has glorified guns and promoted them to children but he emphasized prevention. “The fact is, even a screwdriver can be mistaken by a police officer for a gun in a stress environment.”

Last year almost 700 firearms were confiscated, yet more than 125 of them were fakes, called airsoft guns.

The ordinance has so far drawn very little criticism from  businesses that sell the products.