We shudder to think how differently things could have gone last week for a pair of teenage boys, who apparently decided it would be fun to shoot off pellet guns at a Langley park.
The teens, aged 16 and 18, were arrested by Langley RCMP after police received reports that two people were firing weapons in a public space frequented by families, including young children.
As the gun play — and luckily, play it did in fact turn out to be — unfolded, witnesses began to call 911.
When police arrived, the only information they had, one imagines, was that there were two men firing weapons in a park.
So the fact the officers were able to take the time to carefully assess the situation and determine there was no immediate risk to themselves or to the public, speaks volumes about both their composure and professionalism.
They arrived at what was, by all indications, a potentially volatile situation, carrying some heavy duty weaponry of their own.
It’s not a stretch to say that had this happened on the other side of the 49th parallel, the story might have ended with a pair of body bags rather than a slap on the wrist and a stern warning.
As police point out, their ability to distinguish a real weapon from a reproduction is rapidly diminishing.
Gone are the days when plastic toy guns were easily distinguishable from the real thing, and ‘shootouts’ were an everyday form of play for young cowboys (and cowgirls).
Given the growing number of situations that have turned tragic over the past two decades, it’s not unreasonable for officers to arrive at a scene expecting the worst.
To say these two young men are lucky to have emerged alive and uninjured is an understatement.
It’s all fun and games, until somebody loses their life.
