But was it a Red Ryder BB Gun with a compass in the stock?

The caliber of weaponry that sends police rushing to the Burlington Mall is going up. Last April, the mall was shut in pursuit of a shotgun-toting man who turned out to be an umbrella toting man. Today, the Globe reports, Burlington and State Police swarmed the mall in search of a heavily armed man, who, in fact, turned out to be packing - a BB gun.