BB Guns Used in Massachusetts Holdups

Pellet guns and other fake weapons that resemble real firearms have become increasingly used to rob people that believe the weapons to be real, say police in Massachusetts.

In fact, some police officers might also mistake them for the real thing, which could cause unnecessary deaths to criminals as well as to children using the replicas as toys.

“They’re using them like real guns to hold up stores and threaten other people,” says Lt. John Scannell of the Lynn (Mass.) Police Department. “We don’t want the general public out there being scared by these guns and we don’t want kids getting in trouble for having them.”