Social media drags NYPD after it confiscates Final Fantasy prop sword Square EnixAn NYPD social media post bragging about police officers arresting a man with a gun drew the attention of users who recognized the weapon as a gunblade from Final Fantasy. Cosplay is one of the more popular components of nerd culture. Fans make increasingly elaborate costumes, which are enhanced by increasingly realistic props. Unfortunately, that realism often winds up running amok with the real world, as more realistic firearms and bladed weapons create safety concerns, especially at conventions or in public spaces. This does lead to some unfortunate encounters, where the intersection between concerns over public safety and social media leads to some peculiar moments. NYPD mocked on Twitter after seemingly confiscating a Final Fantasy cosplay sword As originally reported by DailyDot, the NYPD shared to its official NYPD News account that it had responded to a call of a man with a gun. They noted in the tweet that officers had confiscated both a fake FBI badge and a weapon. However, social media was quick to note the weapon appeared to be from a video game. Users on Twitter pointed out that the weapon appears to be a cosplay prop of the gunblade used by Squall Leonhart in Final Fantasy VIII, a PlayStation 1 RPG from 1999, as well as appearances throughout the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Others pointed out that the prop gun, which can be found on Amazon for around $50, does not even have holes drilled in its revolver to hold bullets, and felt it should not have been mistaken for a firearm. Regardless, social media had a field day, dragging the NYPD as it believed they had simply arrested a video game cosplayer carrying a prop sword. Did he remember to press r1 as the strike lands with the gunblade to do extra damage? pic.twitter.com\/IrcpeIdsV4 \u2014 Reno McDallas (@RenoMcDallas) March 2, 2024 \u201cWas his name Squall?\u201d one user joked, with a gif of Squall swinging his gunblade. \u201cDid he remember to press r1 as the strike lands with the gunblade to do extra damage?\u201d another added, referencing a mechanic from the original game. The ringleader remains at large pic.twitter.com\/oPDDY934jC \u2014 Author John A. Douglas (@BlkCrownAuthor) March 2, 2024 \u201cThe ringleader remains at large,\u201d one user said, with an accompanying GIF of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII. While the prop gun isn\u2019t designed to hold bullets, it is worth pointing out that it is still a bladed weapon. The Amazon listing states it has a 20 1\/2\u2033 stainless steel blade, with the total prop measuring around 26\u2033 long. According to the NYC website, New York City law \u201cprohibits carrying a knife that can be seen in public, including wearing a knife outside of your clothing,\u201d which applies \u201ceven if the blade is not exposed.\u201d It also prohibits the public possession of a knife with a blade that is four inches or longer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Social media drags NYPD after it confiscates Final Fantasy prop sword Square EnixAn NYPD social media post bragging about police officers arresting a man with a gun drew the attention of users who recognized the weapon as a gunblade from Final Fantasy. Cosplay is one of the more popular components of nerd culture. Fans make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59088\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}