Maryland Court Official Wants to Ban Toy Guns

Leah Barkoukis | July 24, 2013 4:59 PM

We’ve reached a new low when it comes to anti-gun hysteria in society: A juvenile court official in Baltimore wants to crack down on the sale of toy guns. The official’s reason? They look too much like real guns.

Zakia Mahasa is a master in the city's juvenile court. On Tuesday, she held up a toy gun she said a deputy sheriff from her court took from two young boys in a west Baltimore neighborhood.

"The boy pulled out a pistol, pointed it at another boy, and the other boy started running. So, of course, he says his heart went in his mouth because it looked like a gun," Mahasa said.

The gun is plastic and fake, but Mahasa said when placed side-by-side with a real pistol, it is hard to tell the difference. She said the neighborhood where the boys were playing with it has been riddled with gun violence.

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From behind Plexiglas, the store operator showed 11 News the silver-barreled toy guns he had on the shelf that day and described the children who bought the guns as 5 and 6 years old.

The store keeper said he saw nothing wrong. They are just toys, he said. But residents see it differently.

"Because there is so much gun violence, I abhor the situation. Water guns, any guns, I'm serious," one resident said.