retrospec | Public Service Announcement: Weapons Laws

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wow.

Okay, 1:

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

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

Cutoff date is 1899.

We're just lucky they put the word "teal" on it, because otherwise I wouldn't have had any way of knowing if it actually was supposed to be or not.

That old? Damn. So you can just walk around with a gun from the 40s as if it's not older than pretty much everyone in your family?

I think it has more to do with the mechanisms. Guns from the 40's still worked on a similar principle as modern guns. Like I said, it's when you're getting into weird stuff like black powder or flintlocks. Stuff that hey, maybe might still work a century later, but maybe you don't want to test it.

But you could still fire a gun from the 1940s without worrying about it blowing up in your face?

[ He didn't realize that was something he even had to worry about until this discussion. He's suddenly a little more nervous about the box in his closet. ]

Hypothetically?

[Meaning this fucking conversation isn't hypothetical at god damn all, is it? Retrospec, why does a teenager need to ask him this?]

So long as the gun has been properly cleaned and maintained, shows no sign of rust, and the cylinder or slide still moves smoothly, and the barrel or chamber have no residue built up in them? Then yes.

[Meaning please check all these things before you fire this gun, James.]

Of course this is hypothetical. Not even Retrospec can secretly send firearms to an army base.

[ Which of course is the exact opposite of what happened, and is yet another factor of what has him so freaked out by this latest package.

But at least it should be safe to keep the gun--and fire it, if absolutely necessary. It wasn't rusty and, from a cursory examination, looked to be in pretty good shape. At least, from what he could tell with limited knowledge of the gun's anatomy. Why didn't this one come with a user's manual in his brain like the Walther? ]

Leave it to a cop to write a novel on superpower regulations, though. As if people are committing bank robberies with lasers shooting out of their eyes now.

[Fucking hell, that's right, Retrospec got it onto an army base, too. You know what, Togusa is going to put that one aside and follow James into turning this conversation joking, because he needs to not think about the repercussions of that.]

Why would lasers shoot out of your eyes? You need those eyes to see with.

And, you know what? Knowing everyone's luck, someone gets eye lasers to rob a bank, and then Officer Sakakura would get to shoot fire from his hands when he gets angry. Just what we need.

Oh yeah? What would be the protocol for illegal bank robbery superpowers vs. police endorsed superpowers?

Same as any of us firing our sidearm, an investigation gets pursued, the officer gets placed on restriction until it's over, more than likely has to go through counseling and retraining if they even keep their jobs.

The easiest way to handle this is to treat it like any other weapon. It's the results of what you do with the powers that might lead to legal intervention.

I hope.

Yeah but how are you supposed to restrain someone from using something they have access to at all times? You'd basically have to use the honor system. "Pwetty pwease don't shoot any more laser beams out of your face until we say so"? Yeah, right.

You can't just tell them to hand their laser beams in until they're cleared.

Restriction means no active duty, no responding to calls, so they aren't in a situation where they can shoot laser beams at people on the clock.

Do it off the clock, or do it without clearance, and you're fired at minimum, more likely you're facing assault charges just like you were a civilian, no matter the circumstances.

And you think you'll be able to actually enforce whatever charges they get?

I do.

Powers or no powers, everyone on this application, everyone Retrospec has drawn onto this is just a person. A person who could be walking around with a lot of destructive potential. But all of us just want to live out our days normally. The very same people who could wake up tomorrow being able to set things on fire could have picked up a gun yesterday and been able to enact whatever plan you're worried about them doing.

I don't believe they'll do anything different. Not intentionally.

I'm more worried about the accidentally. Thus, why the post. If you're stuck with guns, if you're stuck with fire hands or laser eyes, learn what you're doing with it. Keep other people around you safe.

Yeah, too bad there's no safety on laser eyes. Those are permanently loaded.

So does this mean we're going to get a firing range just for crazy superpowers?

I mean. I know you were joking.

But, this is the best idea, but I have no idea how to do it.

Some of it would absolutely have to be handled outdoors.

Wait. Seriously?

...Is that even a thing we could make happen?

Maybe??

I don't know. There's got to be a way. I know some people have been trying to practice discreetly, and maybe if you talk to them all about what they're doing? Things you never thought you'd have to think about, you know? Somebody's got to be able to work out the logistics.

Guess so. What, are you telling me there actually are people on here who've got laser eyes or are shooting fire out of their hands?

Besides, what about people with normal weapons and stuff and no real place to practice with them? Do those count too?

[Oh, just pour on the guilt, as Togusa stares at the message. James shouldn't have to try to learn more, he shouldn't have to go through such an abrupt change like he did right in front of Togusa's eyes. But can he deny him the opportunity to find out?]

I will confirm that the answer to your first question is yes, but will not name names.

As for your second point.

Talk to Dante Rantanen.

[DAMN it all.]

Public Service Announcement: Weapons Laws

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shit i shoulda grayscale photoshopped that

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