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It looks awesome to be honest and is probably part of the reason it scared the authorities. Had it looked more like a miniature potato cannon, I'm not sure they would've thought it any more dangerous than a slingshot.

Kind of reminds me how California's assault weapon ban seems to be quite centered around how "scary" the firearm looks, and not the capabilities of the weapon.

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Codified into law there can be some reason to it. A butterfly knife isn't a lot more lethal than a similarly sized Leatherman. But a self-respecting gangster is going to go with the much cooler butterfly knife, which for many countries is enough reason to ban one but not the other.

However this should be a matter of law, not enforcement decisions.

I agree that may be a reason politicians ban weapons in similar laws, but I believe that is a really stupid reason.

In this situation, it does appear to me that the law insufficiently specifies what is legal, and it is unfortunate that this came down to an enforcement decision.

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