OKC Police See Increase In Fake Guns Made To Look Real

News 9 went to the Oklahoma City police pistol range where officers receive all their firearms training. And one police captain tells us more and more of them are coming across air guns that look like the real thing.

Wednesday, August 14th 2013, 6:11 pm

By: News 9


News 9 went to the Oklahoma City police pistol range where officers receive all their firearms training. And one police captain tells us more and more of them are coming across air guns that look like the real thing.

Looking at all these guns on the table, it's hard to tell which one is fake and which one is real. One .50 caliber Desert Eagle pistol is the real deal. And another, which looks just like it, is not.

"It's fully functional," said Captain Dexter Nelson with the Oklahoma City Police Department. "It has slide locks, moves like on the real gun."

And another pink shotgun may look like a toy, but it's not.

"This will fire a lethal round," said Nelson.

When you see some of them side by side, you can see they look almost identical. What's even more surprising is where officers are finding some of these fake guns.

"This one was purchased at a garage sale," said Nelson, holding up the plastic assault looking weapon that is actually an air gun. "And what concerns us with this weapon is that it is the same size as the actual real weapon."

Nelson says the only apparent difference in the two guns is that the stock has been changed out on the police weapon. But everything else looks the same.

"The charging of the weapon or how you load or chamber, a round actually works on this weapon like it works on the real weapon," said Nelson.

And that's why these fake guns can cause a real problem for police.

"From a distance it looks like the real thing," said Nelson. "And most importantly when it's pointed at you, you can't tell it's not the real thing."

You can tell this air gun has been painted black to look more like the real deal. But then some fake guns are being used for sinister purposes.

"You can tell this Nerf gun isn't real, but we have encountered instances where people have taken guns that look like this and modified them to be deadly."

The captain says air guns can be found at any sporting goods store or even some gas stations. Police say if you do get one of these for your kids, monitor them, do not let them go out in a public place with them because you never know if they can be mistaken for a real weapon.

And police tell us they've had several instances where they have encountered people with those real looking air guns. Some have even resulted in officer-involved shootings. But they say their main concern is that people will have these fake guns pointed at someone who has a real one, and cause a real shooting to occur.

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