Company marketing colorful paint for real guns causing major stir in New York City. Company now takes aim at NYC's Mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

[Terminator]

A company that markets colorful paint for guns is now taking a shot at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg has strongly criticized painted guns, saying they can be easily confused for toys. The company, Lauer Weaponry, denies that allegation and is currently using the mayor's image on brightly-colored guns in what they confess is a "publicity stunt."

Amy Lauer, operations manager for the Wisconsin company, defended their decision to use cartoon colors to decorate firearms, saying most of them were requested, including one called "Barney Purple."
"We had a request by a customer to make that color so he could get his daughter into the shooting sports, and she requested her gun match Barney, so we made that color for him," she said.
After the New York mayor outlawed the sale of gun paint in New York City, the company began making a new line called "The Bloomberg Collection," in different shades for different boroughs, even some with a stencil of the mayor's face.

"We just use his caricature as a publicity stunt, basically," Lauer said. "We decided to put that on just our display guns. We don't sell that, or anything — just on display models."
City Hall is infuriated. "Quite frankly, we're disgusted," said New York City criminal justice coordinator, John Feinblatt. "When you think about this, the real risk is an innocent victim could be killed or a police officer could be killed."
Lauer dismissed the accusation that the color of the guns could potentially create confusion, and possibly cause deadly hesitation. The superintendent of the Chicago Police Department brought up his concern about incidents involving gangs of kids and cops in big cities.
"I don't think the majority of police officers would question it. I think they are trained to know that if they are in a threatening position, that they are supposed to protect themselves, and I don't think a color of a gun will make any difference to most officers," Lauer said.
"So many toys out there look so real ... if you point a gun at a police officer, you have to assume you are going to get shot, and parents need to train their children.
"I think most police officers are knowledgeable enough to know that guns can come in any color, pink, blue, green, black, and it doesn't make a difference," she said.

The owner of a New York gun range agreed that The Bloomberg Collection guns look like toys and said he wouldn't sell the paints, even if he could.
"If somebody pulls this gun out and points this at a cop, if he stops for a piece of a second to decide whether it's real or not, he's going to get shot," said Bob Derrig, owner of Westside Pistol Range.

[MacLean]

Lauer is good stuff - and the company is pretty political savvy.

It's pretty easy to use too, and inexpensive.

[Terminator]

Lauer is good stuff - and the company is pretty political savvy.

It's pretty easy to use too, and inexpensive.

That's wonderful. However, do you think the government should step in and stop the sale of these colored handguns?

[Xiphos]

I'm not going to hesitate to try and determine if it's real. The only way I'll know a gun being pointed at me is real is by being shot. There's no hesitation there. If someone points something at me in a way I think it could be a weapon I will make their birth certificate a worthless piece of paper.

Frankly this business is doing us a favor. Any gang banger can get a gun and spray paint it any color. Because of this company I will now have a good answer for why something that looks like a toy can still be dangerous.

[Bob Loblaw]

Because of this company I will now have a good answer for why something that looks like a toy can still be dangerous.

EXACTLY! I was just about to hit the ol' "print" button and store this story in my file that I have started so that I can articulate why I do what I do (shoot a guy with a pink gun, not let people use cell phones on traffic stops [since that crazy-ass cell phone gun video we've all seen], etc). "Counselor, don't you know that there is a company that decorates guns with cartoon characters and paints them lavender and pink? Here's the article...."

[jmur5074]

Guns are not toys.

Painting them the colors under the rainbow makes them look like toys.

[Xiphos]

Guns are not toys.

Painting them the colors under the rainbow makes them look like toys.

So? We should all subscribe to the Henry Ford marketing theory when getting a gun? "You can have any color you want, as long as you want black."

We customize our cars and everything else in our lives, why not guns and why not with your favorite color? It's no more or less dangerous because it's pink. I'm not worried about people with colored guns because no matter what I will treat it like it's the real thing and loaded when I see it on the street.

[Pinki]

I have a pink gun (Glock 19) and I'm very happy with it. Everyone that I shoot with in IDPA are supportive of it as well.

[TXCharlie]

GunKote, DuraCoat, etc, have been making color gun coatings for quite some time. I'm not aware of any incidents caused by it, probably because very few people would want their gun to look like a toy.

I can't imagine myself believing it's a toy or paintball gun if some teenager or adult pointed one at me. If a 6-year-old pointed one at me, I'd probably give him the benifit of the doubt.

I would expect it's much more likely that a teenage gang-banger would take a toy gun and paint it to look like the real thing, to do robberies, etc.

[Cidp24]

I voted no simply because I am not in favor of the government having any additional control over guns. I do, however, think that a brightly colored gun could cause some officers to hesitate. I don't think its a real good idea.