Actor using airsoft gun in low budget film charged in NJ

[zebra007 7]

1- It's stupid that you need a permit to make a movie.

2 - It's stupid that you can be arrested for playing with a toy gun.

 

Remember this was a low budget movie, probably no film crews and trucks nothing to indicate what was going on. 

This was a car shootout scene or chase in a neighborhood.  

 

A permit would have let the people know what was going on.  Street would have been closed.  Its also about the money too.

A realistic looking toy gun is as just dangerous as an empty real gun.  I'm falling back to treat every gun as if its loaded.    

 

The news is full of incidents where people thought it was ok to wave "realistic toy" guns in public, it usually didn't work out well for them.

[High Exposure 5,662]

Permits prevent things like this from happening.

 

Do we know what he was charged with yet?

 

Could have nothing to do with weapons possession. He could have been arrested and charged with a number of other crimes - harassment, terroristic threats, public alarm, disorderly person, etc...

[DirtyDigz 1,811]

I read his gofundme page again-looks like he updated it and he says he is charged with "handgun possession".

[pasu0115 200]

Maybe one of the moderators at the debate tonight will ask Chris Christie about this situation.

[MedicYeti 96]

I have a tiny bit of sympathy for this guy, not enough to pitch in money. In My Opinion, hit him and the others involved for the unsafe driving in a neighborhood and disturbing the peace and/or filming without a permit. This was a series of bad choices but there was no malacious intent. No reason to screw the guys life for this. Aren't there real criminals that should be put in jail?

[diamondd817 826]

Bunch of scabs.

[springfieldxds 0]

1- It's stupid that you need a permit to make a movie.

2 - It's stupid that you can be arrested for playing with a toy gun.

 

If the police got a call and their investigation showed that some guys were using a toy gun as a prop to make a movie, a stern talking too is enough.

 

I can't believe the number of posts here that are some version of "He got what he deserved."   Anyone who feels that way is THE reason the laws in NJ are so out of control.

this exactly, i think we as nj are just so deep in denial we will do anything to justify loosing one more notch, such as "this law isnt that bad, it doesnt affect me so who cares" "NJ is too far gone whats the point in trying to change things now" "why would you ever need to carry a gun, are you crazy" "i only own a rifle to hunt, what do i care what happens with handguns" "it was her fault that shes locked up for being stupid and not looking up NJ ridiculous gun laws"

 

its all just denial, if we actually fixed this state none of these saying would have to be said

[raz-0 1,259]

This is what I was going to point out. Normally the director, producer, someone would contact the police dept and let them know what they are doing. May even need to have roads closed for safety.

 

Also, why wouldn't they be using a prop gun instead of an airsoft? Is a prop that much more expensive?

 

In general, prop guns are more expensive. Simulators are REALLY expensive. Blank only guns cost about the same as a ruger semi-auto (or at least used to), and most realistic rubber guns used for movies are cast by prop armories/prop houses and aren't even something really sold much (I never found a source). 

 

I had film making friends back when that wanted to exhibit this level of stupid, but were at least smart enough to ask me first. My eventual response was don't do this in NJ. 

[Krdshrk 3,877]

http://www.evike.com/index.php?cPath=21_42&sort=6a&filter_id=

 

Cheap spring Airsoft pistols can be had for $5.  

 

Or even purchased locally for under $20.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/family/index.jsp?s=A-StorePrice&fd=Pistols&categoryId=4414550&ff=PAD&fv=DSG_Airsoft_Type%2FPistols&fg=Type&page=1&searchSort=TRUE

 

While non-firing replicas are $100+

http://www.moviereplicasdirect.com/post-world-war-ii.html

[1LtCAP 4,262]

Low budget film with no filming permits hires actor to use airsoft pistol as a prop in a car chase scene in Woodbridge. 

 

Police called, actor arrested and charged with a possible Graves act violation.

 

The article doesn't specify the charge - I'm guessing it's illegal possession of a handgun.  Will be watching this as I've always been curious as how airsoft is apparently allowed to be in a "gray area" in NJ law - meets all the defintion of a firearm, but sold as non-regulated toys, not firearms, in many stores in NJ:

 

http://pix11.com/2016/01/26/actor-faces-jail-time-over-prop-gun-used-on-movie-shoot/

 

Actor's gofundme page to raise bail/legal expense funds:

 

https://www.gofundme.com/rawdeal

i thought airsoft wasn't considered a firearm?

[Krdshrk 3,877]

i thought airsoft wasn't considered a firearm?

 

Try robbing a store with it, pointing it at a cop, or driving around making recoil motions........ it'll get treated as if it's a firearm real quick.

 

Blue guns aren't firearms.  Do something stupid with it though, you'll get treated as if it is.

[1LtCAP 4,262]

good points.......

[High Exposure 5,662]

Update on Fox News:

 

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/02/12/nj-comic-movie-bit-part-backfires-results-in-gun-charge/

 

NJ comic's movie bit part backfires, results in gun charge

 

A New Jersey comic isn't laughing after a bit part in a low budget movie backfired, and saw him charged with weapons violations for packing a replica gun during a scene.

 

Carlo Bellario was filming scenes for an independent film in a residential neighborhood in November in a role he took on for free and the chance to be entered in the Internet Movie Database. His character was a drug dealer's bodyguard, and Bellario toted a realistic-looking airsoft gun that was meant to fool big screen viewers one day. Well, it worked on neighbors along the Woodbridge street, who had no idea a movie was being shot and that the tough guy with a firearm was harmless, according to News 12 New Jersey. But the prop proved to be a little too realistic as residents in the neighborhood called cops leading several officers to respond.

 

Things got worse when Bellario learned too late that the movie's producers had no permit to shoot the movie, much less to film with a replica gun. Bellario was handcuffed, arrested and charged with weapons possession under New Jersey’s strict gun laws, which say any weapon that fires projectile - even if it is just a pellet - is a firearm.

 

“Who thinks they are going to go to a set to film a scene and wind up spending the night in jail?” Bellario tells FoxNews.com. “It’s so senseless. I’m still waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out and tell me that I’ve been punk’d.”

 

He did a four-day stint in the Middlesex County Jail, where he was held on $10,000 bail. The movie’s producers backed out of their promise to pay his bond, he said.

 

They left me high and dry,” he said.

 

The trip to the lockup was just the beginning. Until his court situation in resolved, he is not allowed to leave the state, he said.

 

"That means I can’t go on the road for comedy gigs," he said. "I can’t earn any money.”

 

Bellario is still trying to raise money for his legal fees. He started Go Fund Me page, where he has raised nearly $4,000. Facing up to five years in prison, Bellario also says that he is also having trouble finding a lawyer willing to take on his case and hopes that someone is willing to work pro bono.

 

No one wants to touch it for less than $10, 000,” he said referring to his search for legal representation.

 

The comedian also plans to hold a benefit stand-up show. Bellario also says that he is being treated unfairly for an issue that was out of his control.

 

“I didn’t go there to wave a gun around and scare people,” he said. “As an actor, I’m not required to make sure that the producer has all the proper permits.”

[Zeke 5,504]

http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2016/03/nj_legislators_say_comedians_fake_gun_should_be_dr.html

 

 

Legislation being drafted.

[Stonecoldchavez 92]

Zeke-

 

"Legislation being drafted."... Unfortunately that is political code for "we are looking like we are doing something about it, but will never actually do something".  The legislation can be written in a few hours. NY did it in days with the Safe Act. They can copy PA's laws for christ's sake. It is not rocket science.

 

Plus that douche Prieto said it will never get out of committee.

[Zeke 5,504]

Zeke-

 

"Legislation being drafted."... Unfortunately that is political code for "we are looking like we are doing something about it, but will never actually do something". The legislation can be written in a few hours. NY did it in days with the Safe Act. They can copy PA's laws for christ's sake. It is not rocket science.

 

Plus that douche Prieto said it will never get out of committee.

Jus posting the article bud.

But, I agree that it won't go anywhere

[oneshot 45]

The whole lock him up comments are complete BS. The longer i live in NJ the more i see what a bunch of pussies live here.

[Kevin125 4,772]

"New Jersey’s strict gun laws, which say any weapon that fires projectile - even if it is just a pellet - is a firearm."

 

So when the neighborhood kids play with their airsoft guns their parents bought over the counter at Dick's in the front yards on our street, they are one random police drive-by away from being arrested?

 

Did that 2007 non-sense Bill actually pass?

[mipafox 438]

 

Permits prevent things like this from happening.

 

 

So, if he drove down the road waving a handgun out of the window and pretending to shoot it, nobody would have been alarmed if he had a $10 piece of paper in his pocket.

 

This is what happens when people become part of the system. They fall victim to having the system as their source of morality, security, and life rather than a necessary evil that has absolutely zero to do with any of those things.

[Zeke 5,504]

 

 

So, if he drove down the road waving a handgun out of the window and pretending to shoot it, nobody would have been alarmed if he had a $10 piece of paper in his pocket.

 

This is what happens when people become part of the system. They fall victim to having the system as their source of morality, security, and life rather than a necessary evil that has absolutely zero to do with any of those things.

Um, typically this is under a form of parade permit. All residents of permitted area need to notified in advance. And, and issuing towns have a meeting prior to approval of said permit.

 

I know this from my Enduro races.

Giving a heads up prevents this sort of headache.

[Zeke 5,504]

And Mipa, when the uninformed called 911 in a panic, the situation would be explained.

The production company is liable here.

[High Exposure 5,662]

 

 

So, if he drove down the road waving a handgun out of the window and pretending to shoot it, nobody would have been alarmed if he had a $10 piece of paper in his pocket.

 

This is what happens when people become part of the system. They fall victim to having the system as their source of morality, security, and life rather than a necessary evil that has absolutely zero to do with any of those things.

Incorrect.

 

People may still be alarmed, however when they called to alert the authorites, the situation would have been known to them, making thier response less arrest-ey. If they had violated the terms of the permit, they may have gotten a fine at most instead of handcuffs.

 

There would also have likely been streets blocked off for filming under controlled conditions where neighbors would have been notified ahead of time. You know like how everyone else who makes a movie and doesn't get arrested does it.

 

If they followed the rules and used some common sense, instead of alarmed residents and arrested actors, the film makers may have gotten a finished movie. Imagine that.

[Zeke 5,504]

Incorrect.

 

People may still be alarmed, however when they called to alert the authorites, the situation would have been known to them, making thier response less arrest-ey. If they had violated the terms of the permit, they may have gotten a fine at most instead of handcuffs.

 

There would also have likely been streets blocked off for filming under controlled conditions where neighbors would have been notified ahead of time. You know like how everyone else who makes a movie and doesn't get arrested does it.

 

If the followers the rules and used some common sense, instead of alarmed residents and arrested actors, the film makers may have gotten a finished movie. Imagine that.

[Shane45 807]

"New Jersey’s strict gun laws, which say any weapon that fires projectile - even if it is just a pellet - is a firearm."

 

So when the neighborhood kids play with their airsoft guns their parents bought over the counter at Dick's in the front yards on our street, they are one random police drive-by away from being arrested?

 

Did that 2007 non-sense Bill actually pass?

 

 

Im not the authority on toys but it was my understanding that the projectile had to be metal per the statute to be considered a firearm. Again laymans view but here is the differentiation, if you use a replica in an actual crime, then it gets treated as a real firearm. So if you took a blue gun, painted it black and robbed a bank, then you have a firearm violation. Anyone in the know please correct me if Im mistaken.

[1LtCAP 4,262]

Low budget film with no filming permits hires actor to use airsoft pistol as a prop in a car chase scene in Woodbridge. 

 

Police called, actor arrested and charged with a possible Graves act violation.

 

The article doesn't specify the charge - I'm guessing it's illegal possession of a handgun.  Will be watching this as I've always been curious as how airsoft is apparently allowed to be in a "gray area" in NJ law - meets all the defintion of a firearm, but sold as non-regulated toys, not firearms, in many stores in NJ:

 

http://pix11.com/2016/01/26/actor-faces-jail-time-over-prop-gun-used-on-movie-shoot/

 

Actor's gofundme page to raise bail/legal expense funds:

 

https://www.gofundme.com/rawdeal

stupid question i know....but i thought airsoft wasn't considered a firearm?

[High Exposure 5,662]

stupid question i know....but i thought airsoft wasn't considered a firearm?

In and of itself it is not. Then again, neither is your finger. But if you stick it in your pocket and yell "stick 'em up, I have a gun" it is armed robbery.

[voyager9 3,434]

In and of itself it is not. Then again, neither is your finger. But if you stick it in your pocket and yell "stick 'em up, I have a gun" it is armed robbery.

What about a pop tart? Can one jam you up as well? Don't sugarcoat it for me.

[High Exposure 5,662]

Im not the authority on toys but it was my understanding that the projectile had to be metal per the statute to be considered a firearm. Again laymans view but here is the differentiation, if you use a replica in an actual crime, then it gets treated as a real firearm. So if you took a blue gun, painted it black and robbed a bank, then you have a firearm violation. Anyone in the know please correct me if Im mistaken.

There is no mention of what the projectile is constructed of in the statute.

 

2C:39-1 Definitions

f."Firearm" means any handgun, rifle, shotgun, machine gun, automatic or semiautomatic rifle, or any gun, device or instrument in the nature of a weapon from which may be fired or ejected any solid projectable ball, slug, pellet, missile or bullet, or any gas, vapor or other noxious thing, by means of a cartridge or shell or by the action of an explosive or the igniting of flammable or explosive substances. It shall also include, without limitation, any firearm which is in the nature of an air gun, spring gun or pistol or other weapon of a similar nature in which the propelling force is a spring, elastic band, carbon dioxide, compressed or other gas or vapor, air or compressed air, or is ignited by compressed air, and ejecting a bullet or missile smaller than three-eighths of an inch in diameter, with sufficient force to injure a person.

 

You have two positions covering airsoft -

1) They don't have enough force to "injure" a person

2) The electric guns don't use any of the methods listed in the statute to launch their projectiles

 

Both of these arguments are tenuous at best.

 

As for using an imitation firearm (blue gun painted to look real) or toy gun in the commission of a crime:

 

2C:39-4. Possession of weapons for unlawful purposes

e.Imitation firearms. Any person who has in his possession an imitation firearm under circumstances that would lead an observer to reasonably believe that it is possessed for an unlawful purpose is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.

[1LtCAP 4,262]

In and of itself it is not. Then again, neither is your finger. But if you stick it in your pocket and yell "stick 'em up, I have a gun" it is armed robbery.

so then they can't really charge him for having the airsoft then? only for doing the movie thing without proper permits?

[PK90 3,570]

As posted in another thread, an airsoft pellet is not solid. It has bubbles and holes which precludes it from the definition.

 

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