Public Hearing To Be Held On Imitation Gun Bill

BOSTON (CBS) -- A public hearing of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security will be held Thursday at the State House to discuss a bill calling for the clear marking of imitation guns.

State Representative Dan Cullinane of Boston sponsored the bill, which would require a clear orange marking on them--so everyone knows that fake is fake.

"[The bill would] mandate a one-inch orange strip, visible from every side of the imitation firearm, to show anyone that might be looking at it in any circumstance that this is not a lethal, bullet-firing weapon," said Cullinane.

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans has said in the past that imitation guns are a real threat, especially to kids in Boston's neighborhoods. Cullinane said that, when police in Cleveland shot to death Tamir Rice while he was carrying a fake gun, he knew we would have to do something here in Boston to prevent such a situation.

"No one, but especially a police officer who has the burden of making a split-second decision, should ever be in a position to guess if a gun is real," said Cullinane.

Rep. Cullinane, Commissioner Evans, Reverend Jeffrey Brown, and others will testify at the hearing Thursday at 11 a.m.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports