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Councilmen say even water guns should be banned
Push for Tougher Toy-Gun Ban
January 5, 2003, 5:31 PM EST
NEW YORK (AP) _ Two city councilmen said Sunday that last week's fatal police shooting of a teenager who was holding a pellet gun highlights the importance of their proposed bill to ban the sale and possession of toy guns.
Current city law permits the sale of only brightly colored toy guns constructed of transparent material.
At a City Hall news conference, Councilman David Weprin, a Queens Democrat, brandished his daughter's water pistol, which he had painted black, to demonstrate that even obviously fake guns should be outlawed.
"As you can see, when spray painted black, this brightly colored blue water gun looks like a real gun," Weprin said.
Councilman Albert Vann, a Brooklyn Democrat, said toy guns should be banned because they are increasingly being used to commit real crimes.
"More adults who are criminal-minded are using toy guns in the commission of crime because they know that if caught the penalty is less severe," Vann said.
Seventeen-year-old Allen Newsome was shot and killed Thursday by a detective who came upon him holding what turned out to be a pellet gun up to the head of the officer's partner, according to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
Lt. Eric Adams of the group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, who joined Vann and Weprin at the news conference, said police officers don't have enough time to judge whether a gun is real or fake.
"You have four to five seconds to make a determination to save your life, your partner's life ... and you don't have the opportunity to feel a toy gun, to look at a toy gun, to see if it squirts water," Adams said.
A hearing on the bill, introduced in October, is scheduled for Feb. 6 before the council's consumer affairs committee.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
Councilmen say even water guns should be banned
Push for Tougher Toy-Gun Ban
January 5, 2003, 5:31 PM EST
NEW YORK (AP) _ Two city councilmen said Sunday that last week's fatal police shooting of a teenager who was holding a pellet gun highlights the importance of their proposed bill to ban the sale and possession of toy guns.
Current city law permits the sale of only brightly colored toy guns constructed of transparent material.
At a City Hall news conference, Councilman David Weprin, a Queens Democrat, brandished his daughter's water pistol, which he had painted black, to demonstrate that even obviously fake guns should be outlawed.
"As you can see, when spray painted black, this brightly colored blue water gun looks like a real gun," Weprin said.
Councilman Albert Vann, a Brooklyn Democrat, said toy guns should be banned because they are increasingly being used to commit real crimes.
"More adults who are criminal-minded are using toy guns in the commission of crime because they know that if caught the penalty is less severe," Vann said.
Seventeen-year-old Allen Newsome was shot and killed Thursday by a detective who came upon him holding what turned out to be a pellet gun up to the head of the officer's partner, according to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
Lt. Eric Adams of the group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, who joined Vann and Weprin at the news conference, said police officers don't have enough time to judge whether a gun is real or fake.
"You have four to five seconds to make a determination to save your life, your partner's life ... and you don't have the opportunity to feel a toy gun, to look at a toy gun, to see if it squirts water," Adams said.
A hearing on the bill, introduced in October, is scheduled for Feb. 6 before the council's consumer affairs committee.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
