Is this a knife?

[Chris Meyer]

While it is easy to review the knife here; the thing does look very much like a real knife from across the room. A cop encountering such a thing would probably be justified to use lethal force.

n2s

Yes, but you could say the same thing about a real knife. If R. Ellis' kid came running at a Police Officer with any metal object in his hand, acting like it was a deadly weapon, he would be very likely to get shot. However, it was never suggested that Mr. Ellis' kid planned to threaten a Police Officer with his training tool, so it's not logical to make that leap. Also, in my PD we try to avoid shooting people who are "across the room" and merely happen to be in possession of a knife.

 

[ohoisin]

yeah that a balibutter useful for speading it on thick.

 

[R. Ellis]

Very interesting stuff Chris. Thanks for your input.