Almost Half Picked The Wrong Gun In The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Gun Challenge

Nearly half of the people who took the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office's recent gun challenge poll couldn't tell the difference between a pellet gun and a real gun.

The scenario was this. You're a police officer, confronted by a shadowy figure in a dark alley who pulls out what appears to be a real gun. You have seconds to decide whether to shoot or not.

Fifty-one percent picked the correct answer - Gun #6. But 49 percent picked the wrong gun, said spokesman Al Della Fave said.

Most who picked gun #6 said they picked it based on the clip magazine they could see at the bottom of the gun grip, he said.

"Do you really think this would be visible within seconds in the dark of night with a hand wrapped around the grip?" Della Fave said. "It's clear that a majority concede the pellet guns' similarity to real firearms present a significant problem for law enforcement."

And don't think shooting someone in an arm or leg or firing a warning shot is an option, he said. That's not allowed, according to the state Attorney General's guidelines on the use of force, he said.

"Besides, gunshot wounds of any kind can easily bring death, whether it's a gunshot wound to the leg striking a major artery, which can easily cause a subject to quickly bleed out or a bullet ricocheting off bone traveling thru the body striking major organs"

Law enforcement officers receive comprehensive classroom and range training of the dangers handguns pose, he said.

The sad reality today for those in law enforcement is simply this: "The only way to be 100 percent sure is to commit to taking a shot before returning fire," Della Fave said.