On Wednesday, Feb. 3, the Ohio House of Representatives held its first hearing to ban the sale and manufacturing of toy guns in the state. House Bill 119 was proposed 11 months ago by Representative Bob Patmon, D-Cleveland, just a few months after the Tamir Rice shooting.

Tamir Rice was a 12-year-old boy from Cleveland who was fatally shot by police in November 2014. Multiple calls to police said the boy was waving and pointing a fake gun at people at a local community center. When police arrived Rice reached for his waistband and police shot and killed the boy.

If HB 119 is passed, it would prohibit the sale and manufacturing of imitation firearms. Anyone who sells or produces imitation firearms could possibly face misdemeanor charges.

Since the 1960s, toy guns have been on the shelves of toy stores, and many kids grow up playing cops and robbers with fake guns. Lieutenant Michael Lewis from the Kent Police department said, “I think that all of us played with real guns growing up. Some of us had guns that were very realistic looking, and they were toy guns.”

HB 119 would also require warnings on imitation firearms noting the law changes and cautioning the products could be mistaken by law enforcement for a real weapon. Additionally, HB 119 would block individuals from altering imitation firearms to look real, or altering real firearms to look like toys.

Lt. Lewis also mentioned how people are making real guns look like toy guns. He said it is something that police officers and detention officers are trained to look for.

“We train detention officers in jails to find legitimately deadly weapons whether they be hidden knives, hidden guns, or real guns made to look like another object. For instance, a cellphone, that was transformed into an operating handgun,” Lewis said.

Legislation however would exempt certain imitation firearms like historic replicas and certain BB guns, as well as props used in theatre shows, military ceremonies, and regulated sporting competitions.