Saw this on the news earlier....

Bill would outlaw BB guns for kids
BY SID CASSESE
Newsday Staff Writer

April 12, 2006

Three Nassau County legislators yesterday fired what they consider an opening salvo at the practice of minors buying hard-firing BB, pellet, and paint-ball guns.

They gathered for an unusual news conference at the Nassau County Rifle and Gun Range in Uniondale, where police officers shot out glass windows, soda cans and an apple to display the power of some of the targeted weapons.

"In light of recent news events involving the hospitalization of two youngsters shot in the eye and abdomen, and massive property damage in nearby communities, I believe we have to keep these potentially dangerous weapons out of the hands of minors," Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) said against the din of guns fired in adjoining range rooms.

A proposed law, due for committee review on April 24, would ban selling to those under 18 any pellet, BB, or paint-ball gun that shoots projectiles 350 feet per second or more.

Also, retailers would be required to post notice of the law conspicuously and store such guns behind the counter in a locked case. Violators could be fined up to $1,000 per offense.

Legis. Joseph Scannell (D-Baldwin), chairman of the Public Safety Committee, noted that the latest available statistics, from 2001, show 18,000 hospital-treated injuries from BB and pellet guns, including 2,000 severe eye cases.

Deputy Chief of Patrol Wayne Atkins cited a rise in pellet and BB-gun-related crimes -- 19 cars and 11 high school windows in Elmont last month and three cars in Oceanside in February.

For Atkins it was personal, too. He told of how his brother once was hit in the eye with a BB, and "it made him half-blind all of his life."

Jeez,

I wish that they had banned exacto knives before I layed myself open while doing many models as a kidhock.gif, happened once or 300 times, next it will be peddle bikes because some kid busted his nuts on the sissy bar........Sean.

I agree with this.  Kids should not be able to buy a BB gun if they are under the age of 18.  The paintball thing I don't agree with.  In the news clip they show the paintballs going through glass.  The guns were probably jacked up to max speed and fired from 10 feet away.  Go on the BB thing and No on the paintball guns.

[rant on]Next thing you know, the (saintly and totally incorruptable) pols will be de-legalizing rubber bands and paper clips!
After all, sling shots are already outright BANNED here in NJ already!
And if it ever made it to a court case, I bet spit balls and plastic drinking straws would land you in the klink on deadly weapon charges too.

What a friggin world we live in these days.

And now that the whack job prez in Iran has managed to enrich uranium, wtf does it really matter about the massive destructive power of a paintball???  [\rant off]

Guys, I didn't see the TV thing, but I bet you dollars to doughnuts they are talking about airsoft pistols and rifles. If you don't know what an airsoft gun is, google it and you'll know why every 14 year old wants one (if they don't already have one). Hell, I'm 32 and I have a USP Compact that you CANNOT tell is fake until you fire it. The field strip is identical too.

The media barely knows about paintball, so they can't use "airsoft" because no one will know what they mean. Every one knows what a BB gun is. They are using the wrong words here.



This is a friend of mine in his airsoft gear. Imagine seeing these guys walk across a road. I can see why the cops don't want young kids waving these guns around...they'll get shot.

This is so stupid.  It's designed to crush the next generation of gun owners before they can get into it.  Then again, my mother denying me BB guns when I was growing up made me the gun hungry man I am today.