Post by Woody Williams on Aug 10, 2006 11:55:23 GMT -5
11:10 PM CDT on Monday, August 7, 2006
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
They're Americana slipped into the holsters of little boys in cowboy hats.
But after a 7-1 vote by the City Council's public safety committee, Dallas is closer than ever to passing one of the nation's strictest ordinances regulating the sale and possession of toy guns.
The committee directed City Attorney Tom Perkins to craft an ordinance that would ban all toy guns except those painted a bright color, such as hot pink or neon green, or made of transparent or translucent material.
The toys would also have to reflect light.
Toy guns that don't fit the city's paint/reflection criteria would be illegal even if kept inside a private home or vehicle, council members said.
"I would have liked to see the city absolutely outlaw toy look-alike replica guns, but to get anything progressive done in this part of the country is significant," said the Rev. Peter Johnson, who through the community activism organization Weed & Seed has advocated banning toy guns locally.
Dallas should model its proposal after New York City's toy-gun ordinance, regarded as one of the country's most stringent, the committee told Mr. Perkins. A small percentage of municipalities, including Plano, have also further regulated toy guns beyond a federal provision requiring toy makers to place an orange cap over gun barrels.
In recent months, many Dallas residents have expressed concern over what they say is children's easy access to inexpensive replica firearms, especially since numerous ice cream vendors and bazaar and flea market retailers sell the toys.
In recent years, police and private citizens throughout the nation have shot several children brandishing toy firearms after believing their own lives were in danger.
The council committee added the light-reflection provision after Dallas Police Deputy Chief Mike Genovesi testified that "under bad lighting, I don't know if the color is going to make any difference."
The committee didn't specify whether the paint itself should be reflective or whether reflective materials, such as a reflector on a bicycle spoke, would suffice.
Council member Mitchell Rasansky, who cast the lone vote against council member James Fantroy's motion, said the proposed ordinance doesn't go far enough.
"I want a total ban on these, period, etched in stone," Mr. Rasansky said.
Some council members worried, however, that a complete toy-gun ban would invite legal challenges that may delay enforcement.
"There isn't an awful lot of law on that at this point," Mr. Perkins said of a complete ban, noting that courts have affirmed the legality of New York City's ordinance. "It is possible. It has not been tested."
Said Mr. Rasansky: "I don't want to wait until two kids die."
The committee did not discuss specific penalties for selling or possessing toy guns. At the meeting's outset, Mr. Perkins presented the council committee with options that included prohibiting people from obscuring guns' orange tips and a total toy-gun sale and possession ban.
For Suzanna Reese, a supervisor at the Toys "R" Us at Dallas' Southwest Center Mall, any such toy-gun ban probably wouldn't affect the store.
"We just carry ray guns and laser guns," Ms. Reese said, adding that her store hasn't sold realistic-looking toy firearms for about five years.
As general manager of Collectible Trains and Toys in Dallas, Mike Belden has traded a vintage toy pistol here and there while tending to his primary business: trains.
He said he appreciates what council members are attempting to accomplish, as "a lot of the toy guns they sell now are strikingly realistic."
If Dallas regulates toy-gun sales and possession, Mr. Belden said he hopes council members would include a provision exempting collectibles.
"I grew up in an area where, if you didn't have twin six-shooters, there was something wrong with you," he said. "A ban like this would definitely be an issue for kids my age – I'm 57. These guns are neat, nostalgic items, and you're looking at basically criminalizing nostalgia."
www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/080806dnmettoygun.e85ed8.html
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
They're Americana slipped into the holsters of little boys in cowboy hats.
But after a 7-1 vote by the City Council's public safety committee, Dallas is closer than ever to passing one of the nation's strictest ordinances regulating the sale and possession of toy guns.
The committee directed City Attorney Tom Perkins to craft an ordinance that would ban all toy guns except those painted a bright color, such as hot pink or neon green, or made of transparent or translucent material.
The toys would also have to reflect light.
Toy guns that don't fit the city's paint/reflection criteria would be illegal even if kept inside a private home or vehicle, council members said.
"I would have liked to see the city absolutely outlaw toy look-alike replica guns, but to get anything progressive done in this part of the country is significant," said the Rev. Peter Johnson, who through the community activism organization Weed & Seed has advocated banning toy guns locally.
Dallas should model its proposal after New York City's toy-gun ordinance, regarded as one of the country's most stringent, the committee told Mr. Perkins. A small percentage of municipalities, including Plano, have also further regulated toy guns beyond a federal provision requiring toy makers to place an orange cap over gun barrels.
In recent months, many Dallas residents have expressed concern over what they say is children's easy access to inexpensive replica firearms, especially since numerous ice cream vendors and bazaar and flea market retailers sell the toys.
In recent years, police and private citizens throughout the nation have shot several children brandishing toy firearms after believing their own lives were in danger.
The council committee added the light-reflection provision after Dallas Police Deputy Chief Mike Genovesi testified that "under bad lighting, I don't know if the color is going to make any difference."
The committee didn't specify whether the paint itself should be reflective or whether reflective materials, such as a reflector on a bicycle spoke, would suffice.
Council member Mitchell Rasansky, who cast the lone vote against council member James Fantroy's motion, said the proposed ordinance doesn't go far enough.
"I want a total ban on these, period, etched in stone," Mr. Rasansky said.
Some council members worried, however, that a complete toy-gun ban would invite legal challenges that may delay enforcement.
"There isn't an awful lot of law on that at this point," Mr. Perkins said of a complete ban, noting that courts have affirmed the legality of New York City's ordinance. "It is possible. It has not been tested."
Said Mr. Rasansky: "I don't want to wait until two kids die."
The committee did not discuss specific penalties for selling or possessing toy guns. At the meeting's outset, Mr. Perkins presented the council committee with options that included prohibiting people from obscuring guns' orange tips and a total toy-gun sale and possession ban.
For Suzanna Reese, a supervisor at the Toys "R" Us at Dallas' Southwest Center Mall, any such toy-gun ban probably wouldn't affect the store.
"We just carry ray guns and laser guns," Ms. Reese said, adding that her store hasn't sold realistic-looking toy firearms for about five years.
As general manager of Collectible Trains and Toys in Dallas, Mike Belden has traded a vintage toy pistol here and there while tending to his primary business: trains.
He said he appreciates what council members are attempting to accomplish, as "a lot of the toy guns they sell now are strikingly realistic."
If Dallas regulates toy-gun sales and possession, Mr. Belden said he hopes council members would include a provision exempting collectibles.
"I grew up in an area where, if you didn't have twin six-shooters, there was something wrong with you," he said. "A ban like this would definitely be an issue for kids my age – I'm 57. These guns are neat, nostalgic items, and you're looking at basically criminalizing nostalgia."
www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/080806dnmettoygun.e85ed8.html
