As first announced by York County police officers, police arrested a South Carolina man who allegedly robbed a convenience store with a Nintendo gun mount, which was mainly used to play games like Duck Hunt, Hogan’s Alley, and Gumshoe in the 1980s.
The 25-year-old suspect allegedly stole $300 in cash using a mask, wig, hoodie, and the specified Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Zapper weapon accessory.
Police claimed that the suspect pointed a fake gun at an officer and asked for money from the safe. Authorities found him in the Dollar General parking lot down the street with a fake gun in his pants. While the original 1984 gaming accessory famously featured a bright orange and gray color, officials say the suspect probably spray-painted it black to make it look like a working firearm. The York County Sheriff’s Department posted an image of the modified gaming accessory on its Twitter account.
Man robs gas station with Nintendo 'Duck Hunt' pistol: sheriff https://t.co/W9zPl0yxuK pic.twitter.com/nGHELXwr39
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) May 31, 2023
The original small arms accessory, called the Zapper, came with the NES and used an internal optical sensor to perform an action on the screen when the trigger was pressed. Although it works in several different games, the most famous use of this accessory was the duck hunting game called Duck Hunt.
Perhaps interestingly, the use of counterfeit weapons to commit crimes has been a serious problem for decades. A study conducted by the US Congress in 1990 showed that fake weapons were used in more than 15 percent of robberies. Because the danger to threatened victims is so real, using a fake weapon to commit a crime has similar penalties to using a real firearm in much of the United States.
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