Play With LEGOs, Get Arrested By SWAT Team

An anonymous reader writes "6 SWAT, 2 uniformed officers, 2 undercover, a chopper in the air, surrounding streets blocked off with five cop cars, two ambulances and a dozen cops. That's what it takes to stop a man packing LEGOs. Jeremy bought himself one of these, someone saw him playing with it in the office and the rest is history."

Re:I know Canada is a bit strict

[RockDoctor]

Over in parts of the UK i believe its illegal to even have a model gun, so having a lego weapon would be a crime in itself.

By "parts of the UK", I take it that you mean Scotland, as that's the only part of the UK that has a different legal system to the rest of the UK (Northern Ireland has a separate legal system to the remainder of the UK, but I don't believe that it's significantly different). But you're wrong ; it has never been illegal to own a model gun, or even to make one, in the same way that it has never been illegal to own, make or repair a chair leg.
However, it has always been unwise to carry a model gun (or a chair leg) in public, or in circumstances where you could come into conflict with the police. People have died in the past for this, and will die in the future.

Two examples :

• a number of years ago an amateur carpenter was repairing a chair leg for a friend - I believe turning a duplicate of an existing leg. As arranged, he goes to meet the friend to deliver the replacement at a pub. Friend wasn't there, beer was consumed, carpenter walks out of pub with chair leg in it's bag to be greeted by "Armed Police! Drop the weapon!" A few seconds of confusion, a few bullets fly, and a cover-up ensues. (One significant fact : the pub was popular with the resident Irish.)
• Man comes home from pub pissed up with a friend. They have an argument and the friend gets kicked out. Abuse is exchanged through the window, while the resident is lighting a fag with a novelty lighter shaped like a revolver. Calls to the police from neighbours, roads are blocked off, people evacuated, a 4 hour "siege", and eventually the police go in through the door with explosives, tear gas and weapons drawn. Fortunately no casualties.

It's a crazy world.
You're glad you don't live here? Well, I suspect that I'm glad you don't live here either.