While federal law says toy guns have to be clearly and obviously toy guns through stuff like bright colors and such, airsoft guns don’t have the same prohibitions. They need an orange tip, which people color in all the time, and that’s it.

Considering how these guns are used, that makes sense. They’re popular with people who play MilSim, or “military simulation” games where adults and older teens basically play war. It’s harmless fun.

But airsoft guns have been used in criminal acts.

And recently, a couple of middle school kids in Colorado took them to school, and now everyone is freaking out over them.

A Southern Colorado sheriff’s office is asking parents to be more vigilant after three middle school students were caught with fake guns on campus this week. No one was injured and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office tells 11 News that three students were cited with misdemeanors.

Parents 11 News spoke with said these situations are happening too often.

“That is your child. You should know what is going on in your household and things like that, even though it’s not a real gun, it’s still can cause harm,” said Nahomy Chin, a parent.

…

On Thursday, two 12 year-olds and one 11 year-old were charged after a school resource officer found them with airsoft guns that looked like real weapons. While no one was hurt, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office says you cannot be too vigilant with your children.

“This is something that I believe every parent has to take seriously. It’s a responsibility as a parent and as a part of the community that we instruct our kids on how to act appropriately and ensure that they are acting appropriately. That means monitoring their social media, monitoring what other kids are saying,” said Sgt. Kurt Smith with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

Now, I’m not saying the kids were in the right taking these guns to school. They weren’t.

Back in my day, you didn’t take any toys to school, but definitely not something that would pass for a real gun at a glance. You especially don’t do it in an era where everyone is terrified of mass school shootings.

That said, this report has a distinct lack of anything worthy of freaking out over.

They had the airsoft guns in school. That situation was noticed and addressed. While I’m not sure charges are warranted, without knowing how the officer noticed them, it’s difficult to say for sure.

But we’ve got a parent talking about how these cause “real harm” without telling anyone how. We’ve got a sheriff’s deputy talking about parental responsibility and monitoring your child’s social media. In a part not quoted above, we have some talking about mental health as well. Meanwhile, we’ve got no indication of there being any kind of explicit threats made toward anyone. Nothing. 

Looking at the charges the kids face, which include Interference with Staff, Faculty, or Students of an Educational Institution to go with disorderly conduct, it’s certainly possible.

However, it’s also a misdemeanor charge, so I’m skeptical that there was a real threat versus a perceived one.

Punishing the kids for breaking the rules makes sense. Everyone pretending that this school was just a breath away from being the next Apalachee High School, however, is pure panic.