...yeah, considering that the majority of people would fall into the "no thanks" category... this is why clothes were invented in the first place and why we envy beautiful people. There wouldn't be much envy if beauty were a common thing. ;p

 

I'm pretty sure clothes were invented to provide warmth.

Along the same lines of the t-shirt is this guy in Canada who's having to go through a whole deal to get Masterpiece Megatron. I guess Canada has one of those genius gun bans, and apparently don't even allow things in that look like guns. The guy does TF reviews on YouTube, and put up a vid showing the Canadian govt's 115 page justification of why he can't have a toy. Apparently no matter where you go in the civilized world, gov't is getting too damn big and butting in where it doesn't belong.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmXsGrEPQpQ

 

Sorry if this is already in another thread. I didn't go and check.

The Megatron gun ban is an entirely different issue - I've posted a comment on that dude's video advising him on what he can do.

What are you talking about? They're both examples of over-reaching gov't bodies reacting stupidly to non-issues.

MP05 falls under replica firearms laws, which is not a non-issue.

 

In many Western countries - and I can only really speak for Australia and assume that some other countries may have similar laws - we have laws against replica firearms. These laws weren't created for Megatron but because there are some actually very realistic replica firearms out there, such as certain high grade BB guns, air rifles etc. Dangers of such toys, in the hands of stupid people (which laws are primarily aimed at - we wouldn't need laws if everyone exercised common sense, but as Einstein once said, "There are two constants - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.") include:

+ Someone being able to use a replica firearm in a robbery. Most armed thieves don't ever intend to hurt or kill someone. A lot of times they use unloaded guns. The idea of using a gun in a robbery is merely to instill fear into your victims as a powerful tool to coerce them into surrendering to your demands quickly and without question. I believe that there have been actual known cases of people using realistic looking toy guns in actual robberies.

+ If someone were to point a replica firearm at a police officer, what is that police officer going to do? I think s/he would most likely draw his/her own firearm and if that person kept pointing the gun at the police officer and was non-responsive to commands to drop the weapon, then the police officer would shoot him/her. And who would blame him/her? By pointing what looks like a gun at someone, especially a law enforcer, you are creating the belief that they are under threat - and they will respond to the threat.

 

I knew this idiot of a Transfan in Australia who brought a G1 1984 Megatron - to an airport in gun mode (this was before Sept 11 too) and airport security guards tackled him and were close to arresting him before realising that it was just a toy and letting him off with a warning. So that's pretty much why we have restrictive laws on replica firearms, which Walther Megatrons fall under.

 

Now yes, putting MP05 under the category of "replica firearm" is silly - because it's WAY too big to not only be a replica pistol, but to be operable by human hands! When you see the size of the handle and trigger you can tell that it's not designed to be operated by a human hand.

 

But replica firearm laws do exist, and we need to work within the frame of the law - whether you agree with it or not.

 

The stupidity of this T-shirt though is, it's not illegal! Since when did it become illegal to wear a Transformers T-shirt on a plane? Airports would have a list of items that you cannot bring aboard an aircraft, and I severely doubt that "Transformers T-shirt" would be among them.

 

Disallowing someone from bringing a gun Megatron aboard a plane is understandable. But a shirt?! What's he gonna do with it??

 

The airport security staff here are being stupid in the execution of airport security. Airport security is fine, but you have to be clever about it. For example, a friend of mine told me that when he flew to Canada, the Canadian security officers at the airport asked him to open up his Discman so that they could look inside. And after that they told him to play the Discman, to make sure that it wasn't a modified bomb. Now that's clever because it's practical. Telling someone to remove his T-shirt because it has an image of a fictional gun is fcuking ridiculous.

 

And that's the other part of it - MP Megatron, albeit oversized, is still a Walther P38 - a real gun. Movie Optimus Prime's weapon is a WHAT?!? There is no weapon on Earth that looks like that!! GAH! As much as I dislike Nerfy Classics Megatron, it is a LEGAL gun toy in Hasbro markets were replica firearm laws prevent realistic looking weapons on the market.

 

So it seems to me that the security staff were arguing over an absolute non-issue because it's not even illegal! If the dude with the T-shirt wanted to sue Heathrow, I think he would have a good case.

So basically you're saying I should have gotten my FFL and Class 3 when I originally looked into it... and I'm kicking myself now because the Patriot Act has made it basically impossible for me to get those now...