Public Service Announcement: Weapons Laws

[standalonehuman]

Hello. For those of you who haven’t met me, this is Officer Hitori Togusa, Recolle Police Department. I wanted to address the fact that quite a few people have been receiving weapons from Retrospec. We’ve been seeing weapons of all kinds, firearms, bladed weapons, things that you would normally see in a martial arts movie. Secondly, we’ve gotten reports that attempts to get rid of these items do not work. Retrospec has somehow gotten ahold of them and sent them back to users if they are thrown away or confiscated.

So let’s talk safety, instead. Weapons laws are in place for the safety of not just the public, but of the users of these weapons. There are a lot of details to these laws, but I wanted to provide a quick overview for people, so that we can all get through this situation a lot more safely and responsibly.

In short, no, we can’t go around confiscating everyone’s weapons, and frankly, we don’t want to. Especially after last month, it would be unfair to disarm everybody. But people are also getting back weapons that they don’t know how to use, or things they’ve never seen before. So my goal here is really just to make everybody safer in this situation we’ve been thrown into.


Firearms: A lot of people have been getting firearms of all kinds, pistols, rifles, even some guns that don’t fire physical projectiles. For gun ownership, my first piece of advice would be to go to the Deadeye shooting range and take their basic safety course. It is a requirement if you want to register your weapon, which we’ll get to in a minute. But learn how to handle the gun, how to store it, how to clean it, there’s a lot more than just learning to fire it properly.

Registration is a different matter. Retrospec seems to have no consideration of gun laws, so the possiblity that people under the legal age have been handed firearms is strong. In those cases, if there’s a way that the gun can be registered under a parent or guardian, I would very highly suggest it. But, if you want to carry your gun at all, it needs to be registered with the Public Safety Office. As a side note, concealed carry is a complete other matter, and requires an extra course and a background check to be able to do that. Follow up with anyone at the Police Department or Public Safety if you really want to know what you have to do for a concealed permit for a handgun.

But what about those guns that don’t fire projectiles? Despite the name, are they still firearms if they shoot fire? Or lasers? Under the national guidelines, they still count as a ‘destructive device.’ On this one, the law has taken into account that weapons technology is getting more advanced. They still can be legally registered.

What if the gun you got is older, or seems to have a flintlock mechanism? The registration you might look for here would be to register it as an antique, or as a show piece. There’s also a special registration for black powder weapons, and I can’t believe I have to point that out, but I’m trying to cover everyone’s bases here.

What if you got a fully-automatic rifle? In that case, we’re going to have to talk, there’s no two ways around it. Bring it to one of the Officers who is on the application. Again, we don’t want to confiscate it, since we can’t, but we want to make sure these are handled as safely as possible.

Knives and Swords: The good news is that there isn’t an age limit on ownership of knives and swords. There’s an age limit on purchasing swords, but for some reason, once you have it, there’s no problem.

The bad news is carrying them around. Concealed carry is illegal, so if you have to carry that katana with you because we’re six inches tall again and there are rats going to kill us? Don’t hide it. Carry of weapons with a spring-action is illegal, as are ballisong-type folding blades.

Swords also come with their own safety and care, especially katanas, but I don’t know who is the best authority on this matter. If anyone has experience in iaijitsu, kendo, or the like, please speak up, I’m sure there are people out there who suddenly have swords that they would not like to rust away.

Non-traditional blades fall under a lot of the same rules. I’ve seen people mentioning spears? Multiple people? Retrospec, you’ve got an odd sense of humor. Concealed carry isn’t permitted, even though it would be a lot harder with that sort of weapon.



I have to make a last note for weapons that don’t seem to physically exist. Things that exist as a part of a power set, or might be tied to an individual’s spirit. This last month has been very trying for my sense of what is real and what isn’t? But that’s no reason for me to ignore what I’m seeing.

We can’t regulate the powers that people are attaining. We shouldn’t regulate the powers that people are getting. They’re a part of you, you didn’t do anything wrong to get them, and even if they feel like they might be dangerous? Persecuting you for it is absolutely wrong. I can only urge you to try to learn how to use them, it would be your personal responsibility to keep the people around you safe. And it would be wrong of me or any other authority to try to take that responsibility out of your hands. It’s something that you are, not something that you just have.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I’m unwilling to believe that we can’t keep this city safer if we just keep in communication with each other and stick as close to the law as Retrospec is allowing us to.

Thank you.

Comments

[thisloveisjustice]

wait, wait, so if retrospec sends you something.
and you chuck it in the garbage. they somehow dig it out of the garbage and send it right back to you?

[standalonehuman]

Yeah. Isn't is amazing? That's the easiest explanation I could think of.
There are so much worse possibilities out there, but I think I'm going to stick with that one, instead of winding myself up into some real paranoia.

[thisloveisjustice]

Seriously, their dedicated trolling is bad enough. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised at this point, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

What if we leave it in another person's possession? As in another user rather than someone not on the app. Will they still put it back in our homes?

[true_noir]

[Nope, not going to be getting rid of all those lovely knives. She was starting to carry almost ten pounds of them on her body at all times, maybe more. It was good cardio.

Yep, that's what she was telling herself.]

Informative, but mostly expected. I should probably at least take a gun safety course so I have it on file. I apparently have started remembering how to do all of that lately.

So, how do we deal with weapons that are beyond what should be possible? For example, what if someone received an alien blaster that shoots electrical beams or something?

[standalonehuman]

I'm going to have to assume that it falls under the 'destructive device' category. If it can be identified as a firearm, they'll try to register it as such?

But, hell, if somebody gets a damn flamethrower in the mail, I guarantee you there'll be no selling that to Public Safety, just please let us know that you've got it?

[true_noir]

The good news is that I haven't received a flamethrower, just a whole lot of knives all around my house. Knives, knives everywhere.

So, I've been meaning to ask, Officer. And since you brought up gun safety, are you a S&W man, or more of a Beretta sort? I've been thinking about it, and I might have to go with a MAC if I ever buy one. French solidarity and all.

[She might be teasing you a little, Togusa, being that this is an 18 year old casually discussing brands of firearms.]

[prometheanflame]

I received a dagger in the mail yesterday. I have never used a weapon before.

But if I can't get rid of it, is it possible to get some training on how to use it properly? It might come in handy in the future.

[standalonehuman]

Oh. That is a good question. I'm honestly not sure who would teach knife combatives. I can ask around at the station, but our guy doesn't do civilian classes.

I know we have a few martial arts instructors on the network. Knives specifically, somebody has to know.

[prometheanflame]

I could ask on the network once I'm comfortable with holding it.

Thank you for the informative post.

[frostythehitman]

Wow.

Okay, 1:


And 2: how old does a gun have to be to be considered 'antique'?

[standalonehuman]

Teal got hit really hard, didn't it? Teal and aquamarine, they're doubly no longer colors, hunh.

Cutoff date is 1899.

text

[vitis]

[ wow this has been Enlightening with a capital e. the "powers" mentions, in particular, is a lot to wrap his head around. ]

so concealed weapons licenses for knives aren't a thing here, or what?

[standalonehuman]

[OOC: Great, of course when I double-check that, it turns out to be a state by state thing and I defaulted to that because it's really restrictive where I live, so let's go with a cop-out answer here. The real goal is to put this out there to not restrict characters Doing Things.]

It's tricky, and it's DEFINITELY not a thing for swords. My official advice is to err on the side of open carry.

[clear_eyes]

... I never considered the implications of people regaining these kinds of things. I'm glad you're on top of all this, sir.

Still, considering all the fantastic stuff people have been getting and remembering, I'm worried about the possibility of things the world isn't quite prepared for...

[standalonehuman]

Thank you. I just really want people to be safe. Retrospec is handing out guns and hoping that people will eventually remember how to use them. Anything I can do to keep people from getting hurt in the mean time?

It's been a big question. When new things are happening that aren't strictly spoken about in the law, what do you do? I'm trying to stick as close as I can to the law in the meantime.

[sotenbori]

you wrote a lot of words but i feel like you left out a lot of weapons categories

[standalonehuman]

Oh, I am happy to keep going, if you'd like.

Most martial arts weapons are either going to fall under knife laws or are fine as collector's pieces. If you got sent an incendiary device, grenade launcher, or something even larger, please contact the Recolle Police.

If you got sent a whip, I can forward you direct to Officer Sakakura because I hear he's into that kind of thing.

[okitactless]

I do kendo if anybody needs help with a shinai

and I'm not sure if it's the same for other kinds of swords but I know a little bit about taking care of katanas

[Which has less to do with his kendo-ing and more to do with the fact that he's a giant weeb, but shh.]

I agree that people should hold onto the weapons that they're getting but if we're going to actually need to use them then we definitely need to set up city-wide training classes or something

the last thing we need is people getting hurt by trying to protect themselves with things they don't understand how to use

[standalonehuman]

Thank you very much. This was some of what I was hoping to get by putting this up. I knew other people would be willing and able to help.

If last month was any indication? I am worried that Retrospec is going to keep putting us in dangerous situations. It's stupid, and I wish more that I'd be able to prevent them doing that. But barring that, if we can be as safe and responsible as we can with these weapons we can't get rid of?

Your offer is hugely appreciated.

[fashionable_yapping]

Okay, um, how would a killer dog army be covered?

Not that I got one or anything. But the other me had one in some of the flashbacks I've been getting. I'd rather not get it, though. It'd be a real pain in the ass, what with feeding them and all.

Can you even get armies from Retrospec? Hopefully not.

[standalonehuman]

[Please give Togusa a moment because he is STARING at his screen.]

Miss Ecarlate? A pleasure to talk to you.

I would have to say that situation would be covered under the usual animal attack laws? Which means you could still be legally liable for any actions that they take.

So if Retrospec does send you a dog army in the mail, please make sure they do not attack any fellow citizens, and maybe call the Recolle Animal Shelter if you think you can't take care of all of them.

.....

What is my life now that I am coming up with answers for these questions?

[vendettastool]

I hope that I won't need any of this information, but thanks for at least getting it out there.

I do have other questions for you, or maybe another officer that's on this app if this isn't in your sphere of knowledge.

[standalonehuman]

If I can help, I'll try to.

If you'd rather, though, Detective Noah Gabranth and Detective Ichirou Matsuoka are the ranking officers on the application now.

[Now, because Togusa had the same very disturbing experience that Yoon-sung did, with a different superior officer suddenly not knowing what he was talking about.]

[wordcarvings]

That was a lot to read.

[ And he doesn't really like to read such huge amounts of texts on a screen but 1, it was posted by Togusa, and 2, it's something useful to read. Even if Togusa already helped him out with some of this stuff. ]

But very informative.
It certainly is unpleasant that they send weapons to people who don't know how to use them, and that it's not possible to get rid of them.

[ He's still storing that boot-to-rifle in a box at the back of his closet, as a book, refusing to touch it. ]

[standalonehuman]

[Togusa hesitates a long moment, and then he doesn't reply over the comments, but sends Koutarou a private message, instead.]

Even to people who do know how to use them.

I can't win for losing. I tried to register the damn thing, but I of course didn't have a card for it, so, as they should have, the Public Security Office took it away.

I got it back in the mail two days later with a filled-out registration card. I. Can. Not. Win.