It's those situations that have to be taken seriously, law enforcement administrators say, because a mistake from either side could lead to tragedy.
"Every day, we have many hours of low light conditions or no light," Marshfield Police Chief Joe Stroik said. "And that's where the difficulty comes in assessing is it real, is it not, is it a broom handle or is it a gun?"
The Federal Imitation Gun Law, along with regulations passed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, require toy guns to bear a solid blaze-orange plug in the tip of the barrel or be colored entirely white, bright red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink or purple.
The changes have helped citizens recognize much easier that someone is handling a toy, rather than a weapon.
Lt. Bob Levendoske of the Wood County Sheriff's Department said it's probably those regulations that have led to less problems during his tenure with the department. He could only recall a handful of complaints, and just one, about 10 years ago, that led deputies to a person with a toy gun.
"I think that (law) has made an impact," Levendoske said. "You got to work at making your fake guns look real, and sometimes it just isn't worth the hassle."
Those laws, though, do not apply to BB or pellet guns, also known to look authentic at times.
In 2007, a man allegedly carried a Crossman BB pistol tucked into his pants while robbing the U.S. Bank in Junction City, according to a criminal complaint.
That action alone led to armed robbery charges that were later amended to robbery of a financial institution, both of which are Class C felonies and carry the same punishment, Portage County District Attorney Thomas Eagon said.
Clark County District Attorney Darwin Zwieg and Wood County District Attorney John Henkelmann couldn't recall any similar crimes in their counties.
But who would try to commit a crime with a fake gun? Felons or minors, Stroik said, because getting a real gun legally can be difficult.
For officers, a complaint involving an alleged weapon always is stressful, and identifying something as a toy requires the same procedures until the situation is deemed safe.
"Our officers, if they see a weapon, they will treat it -- if it's anywhere near a look-a-like or pellet gun -- they'll treat it like a real weapon until found out otherwise," Levendoske said.
Stroik said his officers practice "shoot, don't-shoot training," where an array of situations are presented and officers are forced to make quick, thoughtful decisions.
Some law enforcement officials believe more could be done to alter the style of toys and BB guns, including the authentic look of many that shoot "soft" pellets.
Clark County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Jim Backus said he was surprised at the "realness" of a soft-pellet gun his stepson recently brought home that looked identical to an M-16 assault rifle, a military-issued weapon.
"I think there should be something else that should be done to prevent them from looking like that," Backus said. "Yeah, the orange tip is great, but (they can) take it off or paint it."