Wausau Police Department. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
A recent incident involving a vehicle that was stolen in Marshfield and recovered in Wausau has exposed a hole in the city’s ordinances regarding facsimile firearms- or toy guns.
According to a memo from Investigations Captain Ben Graham, a witness reported that the person in the vehicle was in possession of a gun and threatened to shoot police if they tried to arrest him. The suspect was eventually taken into custody and officers discovered that the gun in question was an airsoft pistol.
When officers attempted to apply the state statute for these situations, which says “No person may carry or display a facsimile firearm in a manner that could reasonably be expected to alarm, intimidate, threaten or terrify another person-” they discovered that they couldn’t because the city doesn’t have matching language in its ordinances.
The city’s Public Health and Safety Committee will meet Monday at 5:15 to hear from the PD about the incident and consider adopting a city ordinance that would mirror the state statutes- with a potential $150 fine attached to it. Learn more about the proposal in Monday’s agenda packet by clicking here.
Comments