Crusade against toy Berettas continues with demonstration

By sandi carpello
Staff Writer

By sandi carpello
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — Children who play with some toy pistols are playing with fire, according to the township’s director of public safety, Tom Finn.

As part of township officials’ recent effort to prevent the use of toy pistols that resemble real handguns, Finn gave a demonstration in front of the television cameras at Monday night’s Township Council meeting to show the indistinguishable characteristics between real 9mm Beretta handguns and their toy replicas.

"I consider [toy guns] weapons. There is potential for anyone to get hurt," Finn said.

According to Finn, a toy gun is far from fool-proof, and can also have deadly repercussions.

Twice recently, local police responded to scenes in which local teenagers were playing with the replicas. In one case, the responding officer pulled his own gun before realizing the young teenagers were using the toy pellet guns.

At this week’s council meeting, Finn held up both a Beretta and a fake pistol, each looking exactly the same.

"It feels and looks identical," Finn said.

The distinguishing mark, a red or orange tip on the toy guns differentiating it from the real thing can easily be disguised by using a black magic marker for a realistic effect. Conversely, some clever criminals have disguised real Berettas by placing an orange marker on the tips of the pistols, he said.

According to Finn, a weapon is something that strikes with sufficient force. The toy gun, which is manufactured in Taiwan and can be sold for a mere $40, is quite powerful and can shoot a 6-mm plastic BB pellet at 230 feet per second, he said.

In making his point, Finn presented a clear plastic BB gun, easily distinguishable from a real pistol.

"This is made by a responsible manufacturer," he said, suggesting that toy gun manufacturers should paint the guns different colors than real guns.

The guns used in Finn’s demonstration were obtained earlier this month when Mayor William Neary, accompanied by three township police officers, visited a vendor at the Route 18 Flea Market who was selling the replicas.

Neary dished out $1,475 in township travel funds to purchase the remaining 38 toy guns in stock. He said this week that he has received sufficient donations from local businesses to replenish the township funds he used.

The vendor has apparently agreed to cooperate with Neary’s request to stop selling the toy guns — which the vendor said were only being sold to buyers who were 19 or over.

Finn said the Route 18 market vendor was the only place that he knew of locally that was selling the toy replicas.

Councilwoman Meryle Asaro suggested that the council reach out to other vendors in the area and ask that they do not sell them.

"Generally our vendors are pretty responsible," she said.

Neary said the guns he purchased are being stored in the police department’s evidence room. He said he plans to show them to state legislators so that they can see for themselves how closely they resemble the real thing. He said he had spoken about the matter with state legislators on the phone and that he planned to hold a more formal meeting following this week’s League of Municipalities convention in Atlantic City.