Another Massachusetts town has a new warning about gel blaster toys that look and feel very similar to actual guns.

Needham police released a photo of one of the toys that officers spotted at a business Tuesday evening.

"At first glance, it is indistinguishable from a real rifle, especially from 40 to 50 feet away and being pointed at people," police said in a statement on social media.

"In situations like this, police officers are forced to make split-second decisions with limited information. This incident ended without anyone getting hurt, but that was a matter of luck."

Police want parents and children to avoid anything that looks and feels like a real gun, especially when they have "no indicators that would help officers or bystanders recognize them as toys."

Investigators said the risk with gel blasters far outweighs any fun.

"This is not our first incident involving these types of items," Needham police said. Needham is about 14 miles southwest of Boston.

Gel blaster gun incidents in Massachusetts

In June 2023, police locked down Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School on Cape Cod after they said a student pulled a gel blaster from his bag and fired at other students.

Back in April 2023, police in Canton, Massachusetts had a similar issue with the guns and banned them from all property in town.

Four high school students in Billerica, Massachusetts were arrested in February 2022 and charged with assault after they were accused of firing gel blasters and hurting teens in Tewksbury.

WBZ-TV security analyst Ed Davis, the former Boston police commissioner, said these kind of weapons put officers in a difficult position.

"I have investigated cases where people have pulled BB guns or gel guns and been killed by police," Davis said. "If there is a gun being pointed at you it doesn't make any difference who is pointing it you're trained to take lethal force in response to that"

Warning about gel blaster guns

P&L Paintball in Bridgewater has gel guns at their shop, but they are plastic, brightly colored toys. 

Owner Michael Goodman said they have these gun models because they're less likely to be misconstrued.

"You can also have guns that look like this that shoot the same thing," Goodman said while pulling out an all-black, rifle-type gun. "That looks quite a bit more realistic. That could be confused at a distance or in dark lighting for a traditional firearm or weapon."

He said cities like New York have rules against gun blasters and BB guns being all black, but Massachusetts does not. 

Goodman doesn't believe further regulation will halt the issue, as toy guns already typically come with an orange tip or some marking to delineate that the gun is fake. People still remove the tip to make the gun look real.

"No, because stupid people do stupid things. Kids do things. They do kid things. We all did kid things. I did kid things. There are just not consequences for actions for some of the things," Goodman said. "It's common sense, or how I was taught as a youth, in [Boy] Scouts, by mom or dad, or the NRA here and anywhere. Anything that shoots, shouldn't be pointed at someone, anyone unless intended to shoot it."

He said it's about proper education and that parents need to be strict about how their children are operating the toys and carrying them around.

"When transporting something, you should put it in a bag. If you can't afford a bag, we get it. Some bags are expensive. Put it in a brown paper bag," Goodman said. "We recommend that for safety, and it's a good way to keep the windows in your car if you leave it in the backseat."