Toy gun confusion dominates CWC discussion

By Ruthanne Johnson
MONTE VISTA—This year’s Ski Hi Stampede went off with a hitch—for the most part. Monte Vista Police Chief John Rosecrans said during the early August “Coffee with a Cop” meeting at Java Dave’s that his officers broke up a few fights during the event’s late-night dances and made some drunk and disorderly arrests. But the most disturbing calls they received came from several Thursday evening Stampede-goers about kids atop a large metal storage container near the Ski Hi complex playing with guns. The callers reported that the guns were being pointed at traffic driving by and at the Ski Hi crowd across the street.
Turns out the children were playing with air guns that even the Monte Vista police officers had a hard time telling apart from the real thing. “I was impressed with the quality of the toy guns they had,” said Rosecrans.
While officers were able to discern the difference before the situation escalated into something serious, the response from the average person without proper training might have ended differently. “We had some traffic jams and the next thing people knew they were having what they thought was a rifle pointed at them,” Rosecrans said. “Any good cop would be able to discern the difference, but what about the 4,000 people attending the concert who may not be as familiar with those types of very real-looking toy guns?”
Rosecrans said the kids’ mom became angry with his officers. “She was more upset with us than her kids, who told her that we had pulled our guns on them. But that wasn’t true. We very quickly realized that the situation wasn’t what it initially looked like, that these kids weren’t pointing real guns at the stampede crowd and traffic.”    
Though Rio Grande County requires a handgun safety course before issuing a permit, that may not be the case in other counties or states, which have varying gun laws. “Someone carrying a concealed weapon with the right permit could very well be supported by laws of self-defense were they to have acted, thinking they were protecting themselves and other people,” Rosecrans said.  
Monte Vista resident Margot Alexander agreed. “When people see a gun, they don’t think toy gun. They think gun.”
According to statistics on gunstocarry.com, Colorado issued some 388,000 concealed gun permits as of April 30, 2017. More than 1,300 of those permits are issued to residents in Rio Grande County.
In a city where a mass shooting has occurred, the kids might not have been so lucky. “Back home in North Carolina, authorities don’t put up with stuff like that,” said Monte Vista’s new ordinance officer Shane Porter. “If you’re playing around with something that looks like a real gun, you could very well be shot dead.”
City councilor Kathy Lorenz shared with the group that gun courses and books on Colorado gun reciprocity laws are available in Alamosa through the Whittington Center. “They are multi-day classes and top of the line,” she said.  The Monte Vista Police Department also offers gun classes a couple of times a year.

Other discussion
Also brought at the Wednesday monthly meeting was signage for next year’s Stampede parade as a way of clearing up confusion about the route and helping with traffic congestion.
Porter discussed a busy first few weeks on the job with dog bites, a dog who attacked another dog and sending out letters to home owners with unkempt properties.
Porter believes a new ordinance requiring puppy litters to be registered within the city would help residents with dogs move towards compliance with the city ordinance requiring the registration of adult dogs. “The Monte Vista website clearly states that dogs need to be registered every year,” he said, “but I come across a lot of people who don’t have their dogs registered or even vaccinated.”
Porter said he will be working to help get those animals registered as well as the introduction of more humane animal ordinances such as longer leashes for outside dogs who are kept tethered, better outdoor shelter for pets and registration for cats living within the city limits.


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