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Does it annoy when people refer to your guns as toys??

  • 02-04-2012 12:45pm
    #1
    Southern Dandy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,006 ✭✭✭


    Ok maybe this is just me but it bugs me when people refer to airsoft guns as toys.

    Now naturally some of these people are completely unawares about the sport and see airsoft guns as the cheap plastic yolks you buy in a texaco garage for your child. But people who do know about it be it a friend or some post you see on youtube etc etc and to call them toys in my head deep deep down i just want to shake them (I may have issues).

    When u see the level of engineering behind what actually goes into a airsoft gun (quality brands even more so) be it aeg, pistol, gbbr I just cant refer to them as toys.

    So i ask even though you just pretty much ignore people who call them toys secretly at the back of you mind your saying "they are not toys".

    So is it just me or do yaw'l feel the same??


Comments

  • #2
    CQB Airsoft
    Registered Users Posts: 80 ✭✭CQB Airsoft


    I pretty much always refer to them as toys :o


  • #3
    Puding
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,261 ✭✭✭Puding


    tbh they're toys in my head, admittedly we now have an official classification of RIF, but im actually happy for people to think of them as toys

    look like a gun and fire 6mm, could be 20euro or 200dollars they're the same thing in the end


  • #4
    Southern Dandy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,006 ✭✭✭Southern Dandy


    Crap.....seems like its just me then. I mean springers have been around for years and t some point of our childhood why more than likely had these, but when you see the likes of a Real sword SVD, and other high end rifles i could not justify calling them toys.

    I get why people refer to them as toys but when it used in a derogatory sense saying they are kids toys etc at the back of my head i don't agree.


  • #5
    Puding
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,261 ✭✭✭Puding


    i have a real sword svd as well, in the end they all do they same thing, some just look better than other, some maybe plastic and other metal but when it really comes down to it they all fire plastic bb :)

    i had a friend who hated them being called toy and tbh it was just a metal thing, did not want to think he way spending that much money on a 'toy'


  • #6
    Zomg Okay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,169 ✭✭✭Zomg Okay


    I don't refer to them as toys myself but it isn't too bothersome when someone does call them that. I mean, what it boils down to is, we're a bunch of teenagers and adults running around the woods playing Cops and Robbers. We even get grumpy when we can't decide who shot who. :D

    It isn't a big deal for me so long as the person calling them "toys" is aware that they can be dangerous if not used right (eye protection, etc.). Once they're aware of that, they can call them unicorns for all I care.


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  • #7
    TheDoc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,137 ✭✭✭✭TheDoc


    They are toys, I call them toys.

    And due to the amount they break, act up, or just in general perform ****ing muck at the best of times, the "engineering" is probably constructed by a child, hence so them being toys.

    I just couldnt actually hold a straight face calling them imitation firearms etc.

    At best I'll call it an "airsoft gun"


  • #8
    Southern Dandy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,006 ✭✭✭Southern Dandy


    Yea thats true puding might just be a metal thing, fact of the matter is i love the sport and no persons view is going to change that.

    @thedoc Well i don't know exactly what you mean by them being made by kids they aint socks or shoes being knitted or stitched by some child in a underground sock and shoe factory in vietnam. Be it injection moulding, cnc, milling and lathe work its a very skilled job to perform that let alone to design especially when you look at manufacturers in the high end market tokyo marui,, vfc, real sword and so on the level of engineering is quite impressive for a toy. As for breaking and all that jazz look after your gun and it wont be an issue.


  • #9
    jayod30
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 960 ✭✭✭jayod30


    It wouldn't annoy me the fact peeps call them toys, if that was the case the wife would've been six foot under a long time ago:D The fact that they're toys doesn't prevent my imagination from imagining something like this (look at clip) is going on when i'm skirmishing:D
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnlPgo9TaGo

    Except for the lack of jumping out of planes, boarding submarines and driving gun boats of course:D


  • #10
    Inari
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭Inari


    I've never referred to them as toys, always as Airsoft guns...always made the most sense. It is what it is.

    I can't say that I am irritated when people refer to them as toys on a personal level, but sometimes I am from an argumentative perspective i.e. where people think "ah sure they're only toys, I can walk around the street with them!" etc. It annoys me on that level, but not from a communications standpoint :)


  • #11
    JFAirsofter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 81 ✭✭JFAirsofter


    first off i absolutly hate it when people refer to them as toys, so much so that i want to punch them (obviously i never would), or when my mother or someone said something stupid like "are you goin shooting tomorrow?" but you know what really gets me, is when you see some kid on youtube over in america with a vid entitled airsoft m4 aeg or something like that, and the thing is some cheap pasltic piece of **** for wall mart or something and him saying its the greatest thing ever when it's a spring gun and the thing only shoots a 100fps or so and couldn't even kill a fly, i've actually had my old youtube account deleted because of throwin to much abuse at idiots like that, just one thing i'm not a hater, i just hate those idiots

    sorry if it seems like i'm rammbling this is like a therpy session for me, thanks for reading


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  • #12
    Jsmurff
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,621 ✭✭✭Jsmurff


    Well they are toys… well sortof you can't hand them to a kid but you do see a lot people between the ages of 30-40 collecting 20-30 of them for the novelty of putting little holes in paper in lue of owning a porche or a Ferrari :) midlife crises and so forth...

    What pisses me off is people saying "oh yer fags for running around playing army man ":mad:


  • #13
    Jsmurff
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,621 ✭✭✭Jsmurff


    JFAirsofter wrote: »
    first off i absolutly hate it when people refer to them as toys, so much so that i want to puncor them or when my mother or someone said something stupid like "are you goin shooting tomorrow?"

    That's what I say all the time 0_o

    What's wrong like do symantics really piss you off that much?


  • #14
    Zomg Okay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,169 ✭✭✭Zomg Okay


    Jsmurff wrote: »
    What pisses me off is people saying "oh yer fags for running around playing army man ":mad:

    9 times in 10, these are people who spend their days on a couch playing CoD or Battlefield, which is essentially "playing army man" as well. Keyboard Warriors and other sub-species of Troll all survive off negative emotion, especially anger. If you ignore them, they starve.


  • #15
    sliabh
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,011 ✭✭✭sliabh


    JFAirsofter wrote: »
    sorry if it seems like i'm rammbling this is like a therpy session for me, thanks for reading
    `

    Chillax man...

    And remember at the end of the day we are all sad Walts. Some of us just need more help than others :-)


  • #16
    Southern Dandy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,006 ✭✭✭Southern Dandy


    well if you have a "toy" that fires hot lets say 400fps and you get caught with said "toy" and are subsequently banged up for the possession of a toy sorry my bad i meant firearm...Might not happen but its classed as a firearm not a toy!


  • #17
    jayod30
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 960 ✭✭✭jayod30


    JFAirsofter wrote: »
    first off i absolutly hate it when people refer to them as toys, so much so that i want to punch them (obviously i never would), or when my mother or someone said something stupid like "are you goin shooting tomorrow?" but you know what really gets me, is when you see some kid on youtube over in america with a vid entitled airsoft m4 aeg or something like that, and the thing is some cheap pasltic piece of **** for wall mart or something and him saying its the greatest thing ever when it's a spring gun and the thing only shoots a 100fps or so and couldn't even kill a fly, i've actually had my old youtube account deleted because of throwin to much abuse at idiots like that, just one thing i'm not a hater, i just hate those idiots

    sorry if it seems like i'm rammbling this is like a therpy session for me, thanks for reading
    Southern Dandy wrote: »
    well if you have a "toy" that fires hot lets say 400fps and you get caught with said "toy" and are subsequently banged up for the possession of a toy sorry my bad i meant firearm...Might not happen but its classed as a firearm not a toy!

    Jesus, there's bigger things goin on in the world. My wife calls them toys, my friends call them toys. My wife, family and friends laugh and slag me over it but guess what, I don't care. I enjoy it and that's all that matters to me. RIF, gun, toy, does it really matter that much???


  • #18
    Southern Dandy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,006 ✭✭✭Southern Dandy


    jayod30 wrote: »
    Jesus, there's bigger things goin on in the world. My wife calls them toys, my friends call them toys. My wife, family and friends laugh and slag me over it but guess what, I don't care. I enjoy it and that's all that matters to me. RIF, gun, toy, does it really matter that much???

    There is bigger thing jayo yes but they ain't being discussed here. You are right though it does not matter what people call them for the simple reason your like me it is not going to stop me from playing. But the reason why i put this post up originally was to see that is there some bit of you though be it tiny that you cringe when people call them toys!!


  • #19
    Sterling Archer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,252 ✭✭✭Sterling Archer


    Throw up a poll, it might help,

    Personally you can call it the wrath of almighty Good if you'd like, i don't really mind, a few cousins, aunts etc, have referred to mine as toys, but treated them more seriously once they saw how fast bbs travel etc,

    I call mine several names most wknds, all of which i can't post on Boards :)

    Edit-- Post 500 Woop Woop :D:D


  • #20
    JFAirsofter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 81 ✭✭JFAirsofter


    jayod30 wrote: »
    Jesus, there's bigger things goin on in the world. My wife calls them toys, my friends call them toys. My wife, family and friends laugh and slag me over it but guess what, I don't care. I enjoy it and that's all that matters to me. RIF, gun, toy, does it really matter that much???
    i admire your attiude man, i don't mean to bitch or anything its just some things like that bug me.


  • #21
    Leftyflip
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,463 ✭✭✭Leftyflip


    Think I might sort out my toy guns and go shooting soon :pac:

    Serious note, I couldn't give a fiddlers fcuk what they're referred to as. The main thing for me is that people understand, they're not like a super soaker where you can wave 'em about in the street and point them at people...

    That analogy works well with other things too...


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  • #22
    Steve
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,584 ✭✭✭✭Steve


    Great, so now I mod the toy forum, how am I gonna explain that to the lads in the rugby club.... :rolleyes:


  • #23
    JFAirsofter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 81 ✭✭JFAirsofter


    i agree completly with Lefty


  • #24
    thermo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,439 ✭✭✭✭thermo


    Steve wrote: »
    Great, so now I mod the toy forum, how am I gonna explain that to the lads in the rugby club.... :rolleyes:

    you have also been out to play with toy guns :D

    on topic;
    i dont mind what people call them.


  • #25
    sharpy2010
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,113 ✭✭✭sharpy2010


    i also refer to them as toys or even maybe airsoft guns but 75% of the time you have to explain to people what it is cos generally speaking many people mix this up with "Oh them pellet gun things you get on holliers!!!":rolleyes::rolleyes:
    but realistically speaking they are real toys that we all dress up with and run around the forest and shoot eachother, and be happy aboutit until we all get tired and have bit of an old fit towards the end of the day and round it off with going to bed early!! :D:D
    so whats wrong with calling them toys? albeit expensive toys that if the other half seen how much they are we would all be dead!!! (FOR REAL!!!):D:D
    On the other hand we do get up off the couch, leave the house and run around unlike the couch warriors and those warhammer heroes!!!


  • #26
    JFAirsofter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 81 ✭✭JFAirsofter


    i do have to admit, it keeps me fit and i don't have to waste money on a gym membership, now i spend it wisely on an aeg that i definately need

    i'll stick to my word, airsoft is not just a game, its a lifestyle choice


  • #27
    NakedDex
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,984 ✭✭✭NakedDex


    I called them aubergines, but I've begun referring to them as eggplants lately. They haven't stopped firing plastic balls at whatever I point them at though, despite the change.
    Funny that, how the name change seemed to make zero difference...


  • #28
    Dalv10022
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 178 ✭✭Dalv10022


    Yes It annoys me!


  • #29
    Jsmurff
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,621 ✭✭✭Jsmurff


    sharpy2010 wrote: »
    i also refer to them as toys or even maybe airsoft guns but 75% of the time you have to explain to people what it is cos generally speaking many people mix this up with "Oh them pellet gun things you get on holliers!!!":rolleyes::rolleyes:
    but realistically speaking they are real toys that we all dress up with and run around the forest and shoot eachother, and be happy aboutit until we all get tired and have bit of an old fit towards the end of the day and round it off with going to bed early!! :D:D
    so whats wrong with calling them toys? albeit expensive toys that if the other half seen how much they are we would all be dead!!! (FOR REAL!!!):D:D
    On the other hand we do get up off the couch, leave the house and run around unlike the couch warriors and those warhammer heroes!!!

    I have yet to see someone play this extreme form of chess from a seated position :P considering we play on an 8' x 2' board!


  • #30
    McSheez
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 96 ✭✭McSheez


    I call em toys, we play with them therefore surely they're toys, personally I would've given body parts to have an aeg when I was a kid, but i don't mind admitting that I'm still "playing guns" with big toys well into my 20s.


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  • #31
    Squad 701
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 217 ✭✭Squad 701


    As long as they are Toys, we are in business ;-)
    The day they stop being toys is when they get reclassified as firearms !
    So keep calling them toys :-)


  • #32
    Inari
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭Inari


    Squad 701 wrote: »
    As long as they are Toys, we are in business ;-)
    The day they stop being toys is when they get reclassified as firearms !
    So keep calling them toys :-)

    They are not classified as toys though; they ARE classified as Realistic Imitation Firearms.

    I have no problem with people calling them toys, as long as they are not treated like toys. Teenagers playing with Nerf guns in the Phoenix park? Boisterous fun with dart gun toys. Teenagers skirmishing in the phoenix park with airsoft guns would not be seen in any way, by anyone, as boisterous fun - only reckless and stupid.


  • #33
    Puding
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,261 ✭✭✭Puding


    I have no problem with people calling them toys, as long as they are not treated like toys.

    i think that is really the key, we have a tendency to think in black and white ( not just on boards ) but people preseption and terms are a little more complicated, while they're legally rifs as a definition, how people see them is a little more complicated

    i have no problem people seeing them as toy but i do have a problem with them using the tag 'toy' as an excuse to be stupid with them


  • #34
    Steve
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,584 ✭✭✭✭Steve


    It's a bit like saying that a McLaren F1 is a toy - technically it is because there are much more effective and cheaper ways of getting to the shops to get the papers on a Sunday but going in your ma's micra is just not gonna deliver the same level of fun.

    Same goes for tomatoes - legally, in the USA they are a vegetable (as opposed to a fruit which they really are) because some numpty decided that this was best for tax purposes.

    Airsoft guns are legally 'toy guns' and long may that continue - if it ever changes then it will kill the sport stone dead in this country.


  • #35
    OzCam
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,045 ✭✭✭OzCam


    Knowledge is knowing that tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.


  • #36
    TheDoc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,137 ✭✭✭✭TheDoc


    Steve wrote: »
    Great, so now I mod the toy forum, how am I gonna explain that to the lads in the rugby club.... :rolleyes:

    Its ok, your in a rugby club.

    I'm sure you just have to mention they cost "lots of money" and you'll be fine


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  • #37
    TheDoc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,137 ✭✭✭✭TheDoc


    AxcQD.jpg


  • #38
    ASI Casper
    Registered Users Posts: 269 ✭✭ASI Casper


    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=57078222&postcount=153
    By definition, they certainly aren't toys.

    A toy in my mind, and that of most people, is something for a child to play with. Airsoft guns are not for children.
    Personally, I feel that calling them "toys" is something that may backfire on the airsoft community at a future date.


  • #39
    Steve
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,584 ✭✭✭✭Steve


    TheDoc wrote: »
    Its ok, your in a rugby club.

    I'm sure you just have to mention they cost "lots of money" and you'll be fine
    By 'club' I mean 'drinking circle'.. :D

    And they're cool with airsoft, they've seen the welts ;)


  • #40
    MyKeyG
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,282 ✭✭✭MyKeyG


    The DPP consider it an imitation firearm and possession in a public place carries a criminal charge under certain circumstances so I would imagine toy is not really a fitting classification. I've never heard of 'Possession of a He-Man figure in public with out justifiable reason'.


  • #41
    Steve
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,584 ✭✭✭✭Steve


    MyKeyG wrote: »
    I've never heard of 'Possession of a He-Man figure in public with out justifiable reason'.
    That's because if you try to rob a bank with a 'realistic imitation he-man figure', you're not gonna be taken seriously. ;)


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  • #42
    MyKeyG
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,282 ✭✭✭MyKeyG


    Steve wrote: »
    That's because if you try to rob a bank with a 'realistic imitation he-man figure', you're not gonna be taken seriously. ;)
    :p To be fair though that kind of exemplifies my point. There is a distinct difference between how they're perceived in all situations except for clubs so you'd imagine there should be a difference in classification.


  • #43
    Steve
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,584 ✭✭✭✭Steve


    MyKeyG wrote: »
    :p To be fair though that kind of exemplifies my point. There is a distinct difference between how they're perceived in all situations except for clubs so you'd imagine there should be a difference in classification.
    I'm sure there are folk in the DOJ that would love to ban RIF's outright and would happily kill the sport overnight if they could.
    That's why most airsofters don't / shouldn't have a problem with them being called 'toys'.


  • #44
    MyKeyG
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,282 ✭✭✭MyKeyG


    Steve wrote: »
    I'm sure there are folk in the DOJ that would love to ban RIF's outright and would happily kill the sport overnight if they could.
    That's why most airsofters don't / shouldn't have a problem with them being called 'toys'.
    Not taking sides but they do look very realistic. I don't blame 'the man' for being concerned at the availability to youngsters and degenerates who use them for feck arseing around.

    I'm not positive they're chomping at the bit to have the sport done away with but I'll put it to you this way. I'd prefer to see it better regulated than for something outrageous to happen and give them an excuse to close us down all together.


  • #45
    TheDoc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,137 ✭✭✭✭TheDoc


    MyKeyG wrote: »
    Not taking sides but they do look very realistic. I don't blame 'the man' for being concerned at the availability to youngsters and degenerates who use them for feck arseing around.

    I'm not positive they're chomping at the bit to have the sport done away with but I'll put it to you this way. I'd prefer to see it better regulated than for something outrageous to happen and give them an excuse to close us down all together.

    Then I'd argue for regulations on Hurleys, Screwdrivers, electrical tools and the purchase of bottles.

    All of which, factually, are more harmful then an airsoft gun.

    If someone held me up and put a M9 to my face, or a screwdriver, I know which one I'm going to lunge at.


    There is no need to try solve problems that arn't there. We keep getting these ideas of "regulate and license our stuff, they will appreciate that and it will be safer"

    How about no, and they don't give a ****. Unless there is some epic stuff going on behind the scenes of the IAA, then looking over the general view of airsoft in the last 8-12 months, "the man" doesn't really give a ****.

    If a day comes when it genuinely looks like we are in trouble, then we can use it as a last resort.

    But for the time being, whilst the only public outcry we have to answer to is the gutter press and Joe, we can be safe in the knowledge that the day after the papers will be back to focusing on how Cheryl Coles heart still hasn't been put back together, and whose dick Gerogie Slutba is sucking


  • #46
    MyKeyG
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,282 ✭✭✭MyKeyG


    TheDoc wrote: »
    Then I'd argue for regulations on Hurleys, Screwdrivers, electrical tools and the purchase of bottles.

    All of which, factually, are more harmful then an airsoft gun.
    Walk up up any city high street with a hurley, a drill, a screwdriver or an empty glass bottle and see if you're not stopped by the guards and asked where you're going with them. And except for the hurley how many of the rest are classified as toys? I rest my case.
    If someone held me up and put a M9 to my face, or a screwdriver, I know which one I'm going to lunge at.
    And I'll bet you've never had either shoved in your face. When I was in school we had to have our hurley's kept in our kit bags as much as possible.
    There is no need to try solve problems that arn't there. We keep getting these ideas of "regulate and license our stuff, they will appreciate that and it will be safer"
    Incredibly ignorant statement. These 'toys' are used in gangland intimidation up and down the country. The guards seize them all the time from areas such as Moyross, South Hill and inner city Dublin.
    How about no, and they don't give a ****. Unless there is some epic stuff going on behind the scenes of the IAA, then looking over the general view of airsoft in the last 8-12 months, "the man" doesn't really give a ****.

    If a day comes when it genuinely looks like we are in trouble, then we can use it as a last resort.
    So you want to wait for the horse to bolt before you close the stable door.
    But for the time being, whilst the only public outcry we have to answer to is the gutter press and Joe, we can be safe in the knowledge that the day after the papers will be back to focusing on how Cheryl Coles heart still hasn't been put back together, and whose dick Gerogie Slutba is sucking
    Really no need to be crude. We're just having a debate. These toys are used to commit crime, you don't have to like it but it's a fact. Perhaps not in 'Dalky' or whatever neck of the woods you come from where everyone knows how to play nice, but it happens. It's an inconvenient truth, but a truth all the same.

    Provision is made in the criminal justice act for possession of these items under certain circumstances.


  • #47
    Stercus Accidit
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,758 ✭✭✭Stercus Accidit


    MyKeyG wrote: »
    Provision is made in the criminal justice act for possession of these items under certain circumstances.

    There are plenty of laws, new and old that cover misuse of an RIF. The kind of abuses you described above are prosecutable offences.


  • #48
    Witcher
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,638 ✭✭✭✭Witcher


    Licencing and increased regulation isn't the way to go, at least.not at the moment. Look over at the shooting forum, some people are down thousands because the government though a clampdown on pistols would stop gangland shootings. Did not work and it won't work for airsoft either.

    Any licencing system would end up as a nightmare anyway as one can plainly see with RS.


  • #49
    Johnny.G
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 333 ✭✭Johnny.G


    i agree with Jsmurff about some people and their views on airsoft but to be even though these rifs are basically high-end and expensive toys because airsoft is a hobby a great hobby but still only a hobby at the moment


  • #50
    NakedDex
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,984 ✭✭✭NakedDex


    Yes, let's take the guns away from the people who are using them properly to reduce the number of crimes...

    Please. Are you honestly suggesting hardcore regulation of an industry that is inherently unlicensable due to the modular equipment design? Next you'll be calling for all hurleys to be barcoded, and all tools to be gps tagged.

    And to answer the ridiculous comparison of people walking down streets with hurleys or tools; you may not be 100% aware of this, so it may come as a shock. Are you sitting down? Comfortable? Good. This is Ireland. Carrying a hurley down a street in this country is like carrying a Macy's bag in New York. It's about as unusual as rain and as frightening as being introduced to an affectionate Labrador puppy. Two and a bit decades of hurling under my belt, and the only dangerous moments I've had with a length of ash in my hand were on a field.
    As for tools, you are aware that people do still work in construction/maintenance, right? I mean, I know there's a recession on, but if I saw a guy walking down the main street of a town with a large screwdriver in his hand, I'd assume he was an electrician or a city/council worker. My first thoughts wouldn't be to call the police and report "a man suspiciously working".

    Context is important. I've seen a person walk through Dublin holding an AK47. I didn't panic and take cover behind the nearest baby-buggy or use a street trader as a human shield. I thought "what a dick". Now, it could be argued that I know about airsoft, so I wasn't seeing it as a real gun, but unless the few thousand people on O'Connell street that day all played airsoft and knew otherwise, then they made a conscious deciosin upon lookinh at it and assumed it was fake too, despite being a "regular" member of the public.

    Now, if you run into a store wearing a mask and brandishing that AK, the owner is going to panic and comply, because they're not going to ask if it's real steel or Real Sword. However, if you run in with a mask and anything, it's probably going to be effective. Yes, anything. If you run in, shouting, wearing a mask and swinging that affectionate Labrador puppy by the hind legs at the person behind the till, they'll probably be terrified that you're insane and give you everything.

    Should we licence small dogs as weapons too? Masks, since they're common in robberies? Pants, since they seem to be involved in 100% of criminal activity? Where does that one end? Anything can be used to commit crimes. Denial of weapons, in a country that has no armed police force in the majority of areas, is only going to force criminals, who want to cause havoc, from €100 plastic guns to the €10 metal crowbars in Homebase (and possibly to puppy shelters).


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