Dutch Comedian Raided for Possession of Air Gun?

Youtube video combines the original 1 minute comedy skit with the arrival of he police to confiscate the airgun/propgun. 

On Tuesday, March 12, 2024, Dutch absurdist comedian Hans Teeuwen uploaded a video mocking Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema.  On the table to Teeuwen's right was an object looking somewhat similar to a pistol. The item may have been included as a jab at the past trouble the Mayor found herself in.  Her teenage son was arrested with a deactivated revolver, owned by her husband, and said to be used as a prop in movie sets.

Three hours after comedian Teeuwen posted the mocking video, six Amsterdam police arrived and appear to have found the same object on the same table. From the video it appears one of the officers placed the object in an evidence bag and took possession of it.

According to Wikipedia, air guns are legal in the Netherlands and can be freely acquired by anyone over the age of 18. A website for a shop in Boernerbroek, Netherlands, advertises a number of air pistols for sale.

The possession of air guns and toy guns which resemble firearms is prohibited in the Netherlands. In recent years "To resemble" has been given a very broad interpretation.

This correspondent has a Webley Tempest air pistol. When placed at a similar angle, the resemblance to the object on Hans Teeuwen's table is remarkable.

The original video does not have great resolution. It does not show the knurling which is done on the back of the Webley Tempest air pistol barrel. Some images of a similar Webley air pistol, the Senior, appear to have smooth barrels. Perhaps someone in the Netherlands produces a prop gun resembling a Webley Tempest?

When Australia passed its Draconian gun laws in 1996, replica guns were required to have the same permits as functional firearms.  In this article, Victoria police in Australia forcibly arrested  a man for possession of a toy AR15, about a foot long.  In Lethbridge, Canada, Police forcefully took down a person in a Star Wars stormtrooper costume because she was carrying a toy blaster. Those who wish a disarmed population do not want anyone to have something looking like a firearm. From independentsentinel.com:

This is the new normal for the entire Western world. Six Dutch police officers raided the Amsterdam home of comedian Hans Teeuwen on Tuesday, hours after he posted a clip on social media in which an object appearing to be a [fake] gun was visible as he was mocking the mayor of Amsterdam.

On Tuesday, Teeuwen, an absurdist comedian and musician, shared the videos on his Instagram account. At publication, each received roughly 400,000 views and more than 10,000 likes.In the first clip, Teeuwen donned a black wig and parodied Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema as what appeared to be a firearm sat next to the comedian on a table.The second video, posted roughly three hours later, shows police arrive and enter Teeuwen’s home in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

 Apparently, anything with a gun in it is not permissible, especially when it insults the mayor.

Analysis: Mocking those who control the police is a risky endeavor. If you have a perfectly legal item, it may be enough of an excuse to have police pay you a visit.  In Australia, the item could not possibly have been a real firearm. The "replica" of an AR15 rifle was only a foot long. The toy Star Wars blaster in Canada only slightly resembles a real firearm.  A message is sent to the public by such actions: stay away from anything resembling a firearm, or you can be in big trouble.  Guns are bad. Stay away. Brick by brick, such authoritarian actions are the stuff of which tyranny is created.

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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