Airsoft guns have evolved from plastic play toys to military models that look and feel like working weapons, resulting in arrests and sometimes fatalities.

Three teens in Downtown Auburn allegedly pointed two imitation weapons at a motorist March 14. The driver called 911 to report the incident to Auburn Police. The 16- and 17-year-old face misdemeanor charges in relation to the incident.

Minneapolis police shot and wounded a 15-year-old boy who pointed a replica firearm at them March 15 following a reported carjacking.

Union City police shot and wounded a robbery suspect March 17 after he pointed a replica handgun at officers, according to the policeone.com Web site.

“How are we supposed to know that it’s a replica?” asked Officer James Dalton of the Auburn Police Department. “It’s an unfair position to be in.”

Airsoft guns, sold in sporting good stores and online, often look like the real deal. Many, but not all, are equipped with an orange tip at the end of the barrel. However, those tips can easily be painted black, leaving officers with no way at a distance to differentiate between a toy and a real weapon.

“It’s an officer safety issue,” Dalton said. “We have to second guess.”

Sgt. Chris Reams of the Auburn Police Department held two handguns side-by-side at the police station Tuesday. While holding the guns by the barrels, it was impossible to distinguish which was the toy Beretta and which was Reams’ service weapon.

“It looks like ours,” he said. “It has a magazine that looks like a regular magazine. It’s even heavy like a real gun. It even disassembles like a real Beretta.”

Tim Little, manager of Big 5 Sporting Goods on Highway 49 in Auburn, said his store sell the popular Airsoft guns, but only the clear plastic models and only to adults.

“A lot of kids are going for the military look and assault rifles,” Little said Monday. “Ours are all clear and have the orange tip.”

The guns are called “Airsoft,” but Little finds this a bit of a misnomer.

“They shoot hard plastic pellets. They aren’t soft or squishy,” he said. “The ammo is a bit bigger than a copper BB.”

Little said you must be 18 or older to purchase anything in relation to the guns including ammunition, clips and accessories.

Although no safety course is required to purchase the toy guns, Little recommends taking one.

“ I suggest to parents that they attend a course,” he said. “The Auburn Elks puts on a hunter safety course and suggest that so they understand the basics of gun safety.”

The toy guns sold at Big 5 fire cylindrical pellets anywhere from 250 feet per second to 450 feet per second and cost anywhere from $20 to $250.

Although it is not illegal to possess a replica gun, charges can be levied for removing or painting the orange tip.

An Auburn teen did just that.

Last March a 14-year-old boy, whose name was not released due to his age, displayed a replica firearm at a group of teenagers. He had reportedly painted the tip of the gun black. The group of teens he allegedly pointed the gun at believed it was real, officials said.

“If you remove the marking at the tips it’s a misdemeanor charge,” Dalton said. “Pointing it at someone is brandishing a firearm. That’s also a misdemeanor.”

Displaying a toy gun in public is an infraction, which warrants a citation.

Taking an Airsoft gun to school is a felony the same as having a BB gun on school grounds, which is what Francisco Evangelista did Aug. 27.

Evangelista, 19, pleaded no contest earlier this month to a single charge of bringing a BB gun onto the Placer High School campus. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 10 and faces up to a year in jail or possible prison time.

The charges stem from an Aug. 27 incident at Placer High School that prompted a school-wide lockdown.

Lt. Jeff Ausnow of the Placer County Sheriff’s Department said the best course of action is not to carry a replica gun in public.

“The police will assume it’s real,” he said. “People need to consider if they were out in an area and somebody pointed an Airsoft at them why would they assume it’s not real?.”

If someone were to point a gun, any gun, at an officer there is little chance the officer would recognize it as a replica.

“A fake gun can get you killed just like a real one,” Ausnow said.

The Journal’s Penne Usher can be reached at penneu@goldcountrymedia.com or post a comment on auburnjournal.com.