If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to deal with Carrie Nation and her band of obnoxious anti-alcohol crusaders, try to have a conversation with the gun ban crowd. There is nothing they won’t try to ban. For the Children™
On Tuesday, June 17, we alerted you that the North Carolina House will consider bill HB1250 called “AMEND DEFINITION OF DANGEROUS FIREARM.”
That bill was dropped into the Senate Rules and Operations of the Senate Committee. It has now been revised and added to another bill HB 369, Criminal Law Changes and will be discussed in that committee tomorrow, July 23.
The new wording of the referenced portion of the bill reads:
‘PROVIDE THAT AIR RIFLES, AIR PISTOLS, AND BB GUNS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE DEFINITION OF “DANGEROUS FIREARMS” FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: ANSON, CLEVELAND, HARNETT, STANLY,AND SURRY
SECTION 10.(a) G.S.14-316 reads as rewritten:
Ҥ 14-316. Permitting young children to use dangerous firearms.
(a)It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly permit a child under the age of 12 years to have access to, or possession, custody or use in any manner whatever, of any gun, pistol or other dangerous firearm, whether such weapon be loaded or unloaded, unless the person has the permission of the child’s parent or guardian, and the child is under the supervision of an adult. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
(b)Air rifles, air pistols, and BB guns shall not be deemed “dangerous firearms” within the meaning of subsection (a) of this section except in the following counties: Anson, Caldwell, Caswell, Chowan, Cleveland, Cumberland, Durham, Forsyth, Gaston, Harnett, Haywood, Mecklenburg, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Union, Vance.”
This section becomes effective December 1, 2014, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.’
The “certain purposes” are not spelled out but, most other countries, including the Czech Republic, Croatia and Kuwait, define these guns as “dangerous firearms” and restrict their use to children 18 and older. Most restrict velocity and some restrict pellet size as well. New Jersey and Rhode Island define all non powder guns as firearms, which generally ensures that all non-powder guns are kept out of the hands of children (absent direct adult supervision), and that felons and other individuals prohibited from possessing firearms are similarly barred from possessing non-powder guns
The current NC law,
SECTION 1.
G.S.14-316 reads as rewritten:
7″§ 14-316. Permitting young children to use dangerous firearms.
(a)It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly permit a child under the age of 12 years to have access to, or possession, custody or use in any manner whatever, of any gun, pistol or other dangerous firearm, whether such weapon be loaded or unloaded, unless the person has the permission of the child’s parent or guardian, and the child is under the supervision of an adult. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have compiled national data on non-powder gun injuries which illustrate the inherent danger of these weapons. Between 2001 and 2011, non-powder guns injured 209,981 people nationwide, including 145,423 children age 19 or younger. In 2011 alone, 16,451 injuries – including 10,288 injuries to children age 19 and younger – resulted from the use of non-powder guns. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, BB guns and pellet rifles cause an average of four deaths per year.
In 2011 two North Carolina children were killed within a week of each other from injuries sustained from pellet guns. And a 7 year-old was charged with two felonies for shooting at passing cars with a BB gun in 2013.
Because non-powder guns are designed to discharge projectiles, often at high speeds and with significant force, they should not be confused with toy guns. Both non-powder and toy guns, however, are often designed to appear almost indistinguishable from actual firearms, and may be mistaken for firearms by law enforcement or others. According to a New York Times investigation, “In recent years, dozens of police officers in Texas, California, Maryland, Florida and elsewhere have shot children and adults armed with what they believed were handguns but that were determined later to be BB guns or other types of air pistols.”
Kids injured and killed with Airsoft pellet guns-
1-year-old Georgia toddler
15 year-old Pennsylvania boy
5 year-old Kansas boy
10 year-old California boy
9 year-old Alaska boy
10 year-old Michigan girl
12 year-old New York boy
7 year-old West Virginia boy
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics –
The range of muzzle velocities for non powder guns overlaps velocities reached by traditional firearms.
Non powder guns pose a serious risk of injury, permanent disability, and even death.
Non powder guns (BB guns, pellet guns, air rifles, paintball guns) are weapons and should never be characterized as toys.
Stop this dangerous portion of the bill!!
Please contact as many members of the Senate committee as you can tonight or before 9am tomorrow and urge them to keep these non powder guns designated as dangerous weapons!
NCGV
http://www.ncgv.org/
In these counties, and not in the other 83, it’s a Class 2 misdemeanor to allow your child to shoot a BB gun in the back yard unless you’re standing right there. We can debate whether or not this is a good idea, but it’s not exactly a crime worthy of 3 months in prison and a $500 fine. It’s not the same thing as Assault, which is also a Class 2 misdemeanor.
The reason that they are only removing 5 from the list of 17 is that in North Carolina there have something called a “local bill.” That is a state law that will only apply in certain counties. The most recent example of that was the Durham firearm registration that got overturned. It was a local bill that only applied in Durham. The limit on any given local bill is 5 counties. So the sponsors of this bill had to stop adding counties at 5. There is some talk that some legislators are miffed that they didn’t run a general bill and eliminate all 17.
I think it’s because they know that children raised around firearms won’t grow up to be irrationally afraid of guns when they grow up. They know that they have to make children fear and hate guns so that they will have some members when the current crop of old white gun haters die.
