Trooping and Pointing Your Westars?

I was curious what your stance is or what the official 501st stance is on pointing your guns at people while trooping? I received my MR Westars in the mail not too long ago and I noticed the bright orange plugs in the tips of the barrels. It looks kind of funny and I think I might want to change it. That got me thinking....

1) Has anyone ever painted and/or altered the MR orange tips? Perhaps a sticker instead of paint?
2) Do you point your guns at people while trooping?
3) Have you ever had anyone get mad at you for pointing your guns at them or something similar?

Just thought I'd ask

I usually don't point at people unless they ask me to for a picture. This happened alot at CV in 2010.

Visiblity in these helmets is often very limited so I don't want to hit some one by accident. When I've trooped as a stormtrooper I kept the blaster in a holster. When I go around in my ESB Boba I just cradle the blaster in my arms and when I troop as a clone I keep the blaster pointed down in the front.

I hope this helps a bit!

The 501st has no official policy for or against. Any replica weapons should be carried and used responsibly and in compliance with any local laws. it's all about the context. If someone says "Hey, point your gun at me for a pic" that's a lot different than pointing it at some random kid.

One year at the Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade, a Boston PD officer asked me to point my gun at him for a photo. It made me pretty uncomfortable, but he asked, so I did it! However, that would NOT be a good time to take the initiative and do it on my own

Yeah, I usually don't point at people unless they want me to... now sometimes when there is say, a local news crew filming a parade, I'll walk up and point the blaster into the camera lens, but usually not just in people's general direction

unless i'm posing for pictures i practice safe gun handling. business end pointed towards the ground, finger off the trigger. and when i'm done with jango they're going to stay safely holstered if i'm not taking pics.

I'm at 4:38 spinning my Westars. I was also on the DragonCon Star Wars float spinning pistols and gunning down the crowd like a madman - they love it. I spin with both hands and it always gets a good response. I removed the orange plugs from mine.

At one of our events a trooper was asked by a kid to point his gun at him, and some random parent saw it and complained. Now pretty much none of our troopers do it. I will, if the parents are there and heard the kids request it.

There was a picture I saw of a kid covering his ears waiting for a trooper's gun to go off because he thought it was real. Again, I don't point at anyone unless they ask me to.

Thanks for the replies. I agree with St. Nasty about practicing safe gun handling. I'd never point my guns at anyone but I see there are some gray areas.

And can anyone comment on if they've altered their MR pistols to get rid of the orange tip?

I cut circles out of black foamie and pushed them down the barrels to cover the orange. Quick and easy.

Originally Posted by tk9323

I cut circles out of black foamie and pushed them down the barrels to cover the orange. Quick and easy.

I might try this

If you look on the underside of the barrels there is a small allen type set screw. You can undo that screw and take your tips off the blaster. This will take the tip and the inner brass tube out as one piece. Then you can unscrew the brass tube and aluminium tip from each other. Then from the backside of the brass tube you can push out the orange plug. It is just an aluminium piece with a o ring around it and an orange sticker on it. You can either flip it around to the plain aluminium side or just leave it out like I did. If you have any questions just ask.

Great question, and GREAT ANSWERS!

aparently no one read mine lol.

Yes, me behind the Jesus in Steam Punk Professor X (XMen) wheel chair - the Professor X and his wheelchair are a friend of mine who lives in my town. No orange plugs dude, dunno what you saw. I turned the plugs around...they have a silver side on the opposite side of the orange. Seeker was there and he kept joking me because I kept getting confused for him. He would see me pass by and say "Hey, Arturo!" LOL!

Nice! Well, I was watching the video in 1080p, but I guess once you remove the orange tips there is copper underneath? I keep re-watching the part of you twirling your Westars and it really, honestly, looks like they have orange tips. It's no big deal

And Seeker's Jango is tough to beat! If people were confusing you for him, that's quite a compliment to you.