What is a replica gun? What to know about fake gun in Rochester police fatal shooting

David Robinson, New York State Team
·4 min read
Toy guns are displayed after being confiscated at airport security checkpoints at the JFK International Airport on November 18, 2014 in New York City. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), displayed a cash of weapons and prohibited items taken up from travelers at airport security checkpoints and from checked luggage. The federal agency is reminding people to pack carefully during the heavy holiday travel season.

A 46-year-old Rochester man fatally shot by a police officer on Christmas Eve added to the hundreds of Americans previously killed by police while in possession of a fake gun over the past decade.

The Rochester police shooting death of Todd Novick comes after state and federal laws aimed to curb access to realistic-looking imitation weapons. That included a new state law last year that tightly restricted the appearance of toy guns sold in New York.

But restrictions can vary based on the type of fake gun, with laws treating toy weapons differently than BB guns, air pistols and other devices that expel projectiles without using gun powder.

Police say Novick had a "replica gun" and images they released show it was Crosman C11 air pistol, a BB gun.

What follows are key details about how laws apply to everything from replica and toy weapons to BB guns and air pistols, as well as what is known about cases where police shot civilians in connection to fake guns.

Are replica guns the same as toy guns?

An 18-year-old was arrested in Florida this year after an employee of a private school saw him in the parking lot with a toy gun, pictured here, raising concerns that caused the school to go into lockdown.
An 18-year-old was arrested in Florida this year after an employee of a private school saw him in the parking lot with a toy gun, pictured here, raising concerns that caused the school to go into lockdown.

New York state law describes an "imitation weapon" as any device or object made of plastic, wood, metal or any other material which substantially duplicates or can reasonably be perceived to be an actual firearm, air rifle, pellet gun, or "B-B" gun.

Police shooting: Man shot by police officer displayed replica gun; identity released

That law, which took effect last year, banned imitation weapon sales, unless they were completely covered with a bright color, such as orange, red, yellow or white. These toy weapons may also comply with the new requirements if they are made of completely transparent materials.

It replaced old state standards that only required toy guns to have an orange stripe and an exterior color different from a traditional weapon. Federal law separately regulates the appearance of toy guns, requiring that they contain the characteristic blaze orange plug inserted into the barrel.

What about BB guns and air rifles?

Realistic imitation pistols can fire BBs.
Realistic imitation pistols can fire BBs.

Federal and state laws treat toy guns differently than non-powder guns, which include BB, air, and pellet guns that expel projectiles (usually made of metal or hard plastic) through the force of air pressure, CO-2 pressure or spring action, according to the Giffords Law Center, the legal arm of the eponymous gun-control advocacy group.

By contrast, actual firearms use gunpowder to generate energy to launch a projectile.

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Federal law prevents states from prohibiting the sale of traditional BB or pellet guns, but explicitly allows states to prohibit the sale of these weapons to minors. New York is among 13 states that have those age-restrictions.

New York City also bans the sale or possession of any air pistol or air rifle (defined as any instrument in which the propelling force is air or a spring) without an appropriate license, the group noted.

How many toy guns seized in New York?

New York State Police on Thursday said they lacked statistics for the number of toy guns seized in connection with the state law enacted last year.

  • A prior state Attorney General's investigation found giant retailers sold nearly 6,500 prohibited toy guns to New York consumers from 2012 to 2014.

  • The retailers paid over $300,000 in fines for those sales under a settlement deal, which included measures aimed at ending illegal toy gun sales.

  • In cracking down on toy guns in 2003, New York City noted federal regulators reported more than 31,000 imitation guns were seized nationally during crime-related incidents from 1985 to 1989.

How many fatal police shootings connected to toy guns?

From 1994 through November 2022, there were at least 63 shootings from actual firearms in New York related to the use of a toy gun, according to the attorney general's office. From these incidents, at least eight people have died.

The office didn't provide the number of cases that involved police.

Federal officials have historically lacked solid data on the number of times police fatally shot a civilian who had a fake gun, but The Washington Post's police shooting database puts the tally at more than 250 since 2015.

Asher Stockler of USA TODAY Network contributed to this report

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rochester police shooting: What is a replica gun? Here's what we know