COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) — The Columbus City Council has bannedminors from carrying realistic-looking
pellet guns following a string ofreports to police of people carrying guns in public that turned out tobe
toyes.The council’s unanimous action Tuesday night came at the behest of police, WTHR-TV reported (http://bit.ly/11h9dYn ).ColumbusPolice Chief Jason
Maddox said officers have only seconds to decidewhether to shoot when faced with someone armed with what
looks like areal gun."It puts them in a bad position when they’re faced withone of these toys that
looks real. It’s just a bad deal. It’s adangerous situation," Maddox said."There’s been sometimes
wherewe’ve had to make some tactical-type deployments when it turned out justto be a toy," Maddox
said.Police say a Columbus school went on lockdown last year after a boy brought a lookalike gun to
school.Police Lt. Matt Myers has said the toy guns sometimes have orange tips, but they can be filed off to
make the toys appear real.The law took effect immediately. Violations can result in $150
fines.___Information from: WTHR-TV, http://www.wthr.com/Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.