McDonald police warn of dangers after juveniles found with realistic-looking BB guns

Several young people are facing charges after they were involved in alleged criminal activity. McDonald police, however, say the juveniles also had BB guns that looked like the real thing.

Facsimile firearms are becoming a bigger problem for law enforcement, as people using them don't understand the risk they run with firearms that look too much like the real thing.

McDonald police say they came across these weapons recently when they recovered two BB guns in two separate incidents, including one involving alleged illegal drugs.

"There is no good use case for toy guns that look like real guns, especially for the average consumer," said Kelly Drane of the gun violence prevention and advocacy group Giffords Law Center.

Drane says these kinds of look-alike firearms have led to tragedies.

"People have been shot by police while carrying non-powder and toy firearms," Drane said. "We need policies in place that toy guns don't look like real guns. Just painting them different colors may not be enough to ensure they don't look very different from real guns."

Another possible solution is for parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of bogus firearms.

"I think parents don't understand that toy guns really do create a lot of risk," Drane added.

In the most recent incident involving a lookalike gun in McDonald, police say the one juvenile stated they carried one for protection, which is not uncommon, according to Drane.

"We need to make our community safer for kids, and kids shouldn't feel unsafe [where] they feel they need to carry these weapons."