Yes, Using Fake Guns to Intimidate Is Still Illegal

I’m a firm believer that someone being uncomfortable or intimidated by the mere presence of a firearm isn’t sufficient reason to restrict guns. If I’m wearing a firearm openly, your discomfort is a “you” problem, not a “me” problem. It’s on you to get over it and come to accept that guns are in law-abiding hands.

But that goes out the window when someone is actually trying to intimidate someone.

That’s a whole different kettle of fish, and I’m quite alright with such a person being prosecuted. What about when it’s not really a gun, though? A lot of criminals think that if they use a fake gun or an unloaded gun, they won’t be treated as if they’d actually been armed.

Well, I have some bad news for those folks. If this woman can be prosecuted for her use of a fake gun, so can you.

She was wicked mad.

A Cape Cod woman was arrested after allegedly threatening young golfers with a gun — only for the weapon to turn out to be a rubber dummy.

Chrystal Lawson, 39, surrendered to police Wednesday after armed officers surrounded her Marston Mills home following frightened reports from a pair of teens golfing nearby.

The teenagers were minding their own business during a round at the Olde Barnstable Fairgrounds Golf Course just before 4 p.m. when they said an erratic woman appeared from the trees and yelled at them to stay out of her yard, according to the Barnstable Police Department. 

“When the golfers responded that they were not in her yard she presented what appeared to be a black pistol, waving and pointing it at them,” police said.

The golfers reported her to police, who then investigated. Inside the home, they found no actual firearms but two rubber guns and a fake magazine. She’s now facing two counts of “assault by means of a dangerous weapon.”

Yes, the gun was fake. That’s irrelevant.

Her alleged actions were those designed to intimidate someone based on the impression that she had a firearm. She was trying to convince these kids that she was armed and she was a threat to their safety. She didn’t demonstrate it was fake and then start threatening them. What she allegedly did all hinged on the kids believing they were potentially being shot.

The fact that it wasn’t a real gun is irrelevant because of her alleged intentions, which appear to include convincing these kids she was armed.

The gun being fake doesn’t change anything except make things a lot more risky for the idiot trying to threaten people with a fake gun.

While this was in Cape Cod, someone trying this in Tennessee would likely find themselves dead over this. They’d start threatening and someone would have a legitimate fear of their life and since it would appear she was armed, they’d likely be justified in shooting her. They wouldn’t realize it was a fake gun. No one can call a time-out to examine the crazy person’s gun, so they have to assume it’s real and act accordingly.

The intention might be for “act accordingly” to mean for them to capitulate to the person’s demands, but in a lot of places, that’s not what’s going to happen.

Just something for people like this to consider.