I would go further and say that he shouldn’t be lawfully charged for simply carrying the BB gun. If he was brandishing the piece as a deadly weapon or in any menacing manner (Which would likely get him shot) then yes. What you’re talking about is something that can have the mere appearance of being a dangerous weapon by mistaken identity, but fully informing the officer that he has on his person, a BB gun or cap gun or a GI Joe cock ring Or whatever, followed by the officer removing, inspecting and correctly identifying the object and by his own admission understanding that it’s not a firearm should not even raise an eyebrow of a good DA. Also, if the officer asked a question about weapons and the guy’s answer included ‘BB pistol’ that does not mean the guy considered it a weapon but rightly knew the cop was about to find something that looked like a firearm and apparently he was smart enough to know he better ID the object beforehand or risk being shot.Not knowing the specifics, I would defer to the arrest being based on the totality of circumstances. If the BB gun was in his backpack, I'd lean towards him transporting it. But, based on the OP, "he informed them he carried a BB gun while walking." That tends to suggest this was not a one time behavior. If he carries it whenever he goes walking, the reasonable conclusion is he's carrying it to use it as a weapon. Based on his sentence, it would be relatively easy to articulate his intention to use it as a dangerous weapon.
These are my opinions formed from daily life. I’m not, nor have I ever entertained any notion of becoming an attorney, but I am a very reasonable person, and something along those lines partly relies on what a reasonable person would think or do. It would be a crying shame if case law made it illegal to carry a partially eaten pop tart in your pocket because it looks like a gun. You can’t make a BB pistol a firearm when it comes to firearms laws. Judges know these things. But you can be shot for having less in your hand.
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