Police warn youths on BB gun safety

With gleaming metal barrels and thick triggers, some BB pistols resemble real handguns.

Havelock police are warning children and teens to leave the weapons at home after two juveniles were arrested for carrying air pistols last month. Firearms and BB guns use different ammunition, but consequences can be equally severe.

"I think it is incumbent upon all of us who have children who may be interested in firearms to teach them the right way to handle them and use them in a proper manner," said G. Wayne Cyrus, Havelock police chief. "It is incumbent upon all adults to make sure that our children are not walking out of our homes with a firearm."

 'If every parent checked one'

On April 24, police approached a boy walking down Methodist Drive to Webb Boulevard who had been seen carrying a gun. Cyrus said the boy, who was walking with a friend, tried to hide the BB pistol and was charged in a juvenile petition with carrying a concealed weapon.

Police learned that the boy, a Havelock Middle School student, had the BB gun in his backpack throughout the school day. Though the weapon wasn't seen at school, Principal Tom McCarthy notified parents through an automated telephone alert system Friday.

"It's unfortunate that it happened," McCarthy said. "When you find out after the fact that somebody had something like that at school, you're thankful that no event happened at school."

The boy's name was not released because he is a juvenile. McCarthy said no one was threatened with the gun, and he believes the boy did not intend to use it at school.

"I don't think there was any ill will or anything like that," he said. "I think it was two boys who were probably going to shoot soup cans."

McCarthy said weapons are not a prevalent problem at Havelock Middle and the number of student discipline referrals has decreased from last year.

He said parents should know what their children bring to school and, if necessary, check their backpacks to ensure weapons and other prohibited items stay at home.

"If every parent checked one, it would prevent me from having to check 470," he said.

 He didn't know

On April 19, a 14-year-old New Jersey boy was charged with carrying a concealed weapon after he was seen holding a BB pistol on a picnic bench in Walter B. Jones Park.

Cyrus said the boy tried to hide the weapon under the wooden helicopter when he was confronted by a police officer. The boy later told police he had no intention to hurt anyone.

"He made a statement that he found the weapon laying on the ground and he did not realize it was a bad thing to do to be carrying it as he was," Cyrus said.

The BB gun wasn't loaded. Cyrus said many children and teens aren't aware that carrying an air pistol, air rifle or paintball gun could be against the law.

"There's probably a large number of juveniles that don't realize the ramifications of such conduct," he said, "whether it be bringing a gun to school, taking it into a store or playing around with weapons with their friends."

 Consequences

Taking the BB gun to the backyard for target practice is a common childhood memory, but many cities, including Havelock, prohibit residents from shooting air guns.

Havelock City Ordinance 11-2 bans the firing of weapons - including air rifles and pistols - in the city, with exceptions made for police and citizens defending themselves.

Though carrying or firing an air gun results in a misdemeanor charge and carrying or shooting a firearm would result in a felony, Cyrus said the weapons could be indistinguishable if pointed at police.

"Had either of these weapons been produced in the presence of an officer and used in a threatening manner, I think it could have produced some serious consequences if the officer had not realized it for what it was," he said.