Hit this Poll

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wahsben

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Go to telegram.com. the poll question is should minors be subject to arrest for carrying a BB gun. The yes's lead now lets turn it around.
 
Don't you have to be 18 to have a bb gun? So if a minor is carrying one, he's breaking the law. That usually leads to punishment.
 
You know, if you delete your cookies adter casting a vote it enables you to vote again. So far I've voted 36 times. It will be over 50% "no" in an hour or so.
 
BB Gun?
Good Grief, when I was 12 or 13 I would get turned loose with a 22. Never got into trouble with it either, nor my friends that I hunted with using the same.
Wouldja believe I grew up in Southern California?
 
well, one unsettling point is that they are taking the bb guns to school. I grew up with guns and all that but that was on a ranch. I would have been in deep trouble with my parents if I took a BB gun to school.
 
Well it says in the article that the kid took a BB gun to school and shot a kid in the stomach, then some other kids started shooting at people in the streets. Hmm, yeah im pretty sure if i got shot by some piss a** kid i would be just a little annoyed. Im not against responsible carrying and usage of a firearm or "airgun" but when the minds of stupid illlogical kids thinks it is okay to take a BB gun and cause senseless pain and annoyance to people for fun, i don't really spare too much punishment for them.

You know, if you delete your cookies adter casting a vote it enables you to vote again. So far I've voted 36 times. It will be over 50% "no" in an hour or so.

Yeah well it doesn't beat my 50 bafillion votes! I've been sitting here for over 5 hours voting on this poll, along with watching the results religiously. I haven't seen the light of day, nor do i know of a thing called, "life."
 
POLL: Do you think that minors possessing BB guns should be subject to arrest?
Yes
No

[ View results ]

That is a very interesting question. If they are doing something that is illegal, yes no matter what they are possessing wallett, car keys, pack of gum.....

Do you think minors should be arrested for possessing BB guns? Sounds like a better question relating to the problem.

Here is the article in the paper addressing all of the issues this poor community is dealing with.:barf:

Nov 19, 2007

BB gun concern growing

Those under 18 can be arrested

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[email protected]



The law: A city ordinance allows police to arrest minors with BB guns.

The acts: Several people over age 18 have used BB guns to commit crimes.

The list: BB gun incidents in the city, Page A4

The quote: 'It is causing a lot of fear and alarm.' - Robert F. Pezzella, schools safety official





WORCESTER— People walking downtown have been shot by BB guns. Students are being caught in city schools with BB guns.

On Thursday, a student in a city elementary school showed off a BB gun in the school, and after school he allegedly used the gun to shoot another student in the stomach, according to authorities. The alleged shooting occurred off school grounds.

An 11-year-old is being charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and is being suspended five days for having the BB gun in school, said Robert F. Pezzella, the schools' safety official. The 11-year-old victim was not seriously harmed.


School and police officials have long been seeking to clamp down on the growing presence of BB guns.

For some time, police could only confiscate BB or pellet guns from anyone under age 18, but a recently amended city ordinance allows police to make arrests.

While the amendment to the air rifle and BB gun ordinance strengthens one put in place more than a decade ago, police say possession of BB guns and pellet guns by people over 18 - especially those in the criminal world - also needs to be addressed.

"This is a nice start for addressing the BB gun problem," police spokesman Sgt. Kerry F. Hazelhurst said of the ordinance that was amended by the City Council on Oct. 2. "However, BB guns are being used in the commission of several crimes such as robberies, and we welcome additional language to address this issue."

Several people over 18 have been caught with BB guns and some have used them to commit crimes. Police also said gang members or convicted felons who can't buy a gun legally because of a criminal record sometimes resort to using a very real-looking BB gun to intimidate people.

On Nov. 13, a pizza delivery driver was robbed on Swan Avenue; three teenagers confronted him and said they had a gun. The man didn't see a gun, but ran when they demanded his delivery and money.

The driver, 49, heard two pops and began bleeding from the chin and ear, Sgt. Hazelhurst said.

Sgt. Hazelhurst is concerned about what might happen if police are confronted by someone waving a BB gun that looks exactly like a real handgun.

"The authenticity of these BB guns no doubt could have fatal consequences if someone confronts an officer," the sergeant said.

A bill was filed in January by a state representative from New Bedford would allow people using fake firearms in a crime to be charged and, if convicted, sentenced under the same guidelines used for a real firearm.

According to the Police Department, there have been 113 documented incidents of vandalism caused by BB or pellet guns. There are other undocumented incidents. At least 60 motor vehicles, 38 residences, 13 commercial properties and two public properties have been vandalized by BB or pellet guns, according to police statistics.

William T. Breault, chairman of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety, recalls a woman's car window being shot out with a BB gun in the area of Main and Hancock streets. Main South has had property damage from BB guns, he said, and the changes in the ordinance were needed.

The day three people were shot by BB or pellet guns downtown really upset Mr. Breault. The three people were shot at different times of the day July 24 in the areas of City Hall and Front Street.

"It really enraged me to have several people wounded like that," he said.

Mr. Pezzella, the Worcester School Department's executive assistant to the superintendent for school safety and violence prevention, said school officials are increasingly concerned about BB and pellet guns being brought to school.

Last school year, six BB or pellet guns were confiscated:

three from middle or high schools and

three from elementary schools, according to Mr. Pezzella. Three confiscations resulted in long-term suspensions.

This school year, there have been three long-term suspensions after school officials confiscated BB or pellet guns from students.

Under the amended ordinance, it is illegal for anyone under 18 to buy or have an air rifle, BB gun or pellet gun. A person under 18 can't be sold them, either. Police can now arrest anyone for violating those sections of the ordinance and fines of $100 to $150 are in place.

It continues to be illegal to fire BB or pellet guns in a public place. People under 18 can possess BB or pellet guns if they are with an adult or if they have a hunting or sporting license and have on them a permit from the chief of police. BB or pellet guns and paintball guns are not allowed at schools or school functions under school rules.

At Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium about a month ago, a middle school student brought a loaded pellet gun to a high school football game. The pellet gun was in his backpack and was confiscated, Mr. Pezzella said.

"Who knows what motives that person had?" he asked.

Where students are getting the BB, pellet or paintball guns is the key question, Mr. Pezzella said. Students caught with them aren't saying.

Parents have to be aware of the new ordinance and the possibility of their children being arrested.

"We want to get the message out to parents that could be purchasing these guns somewhat naively that if you buy a pellet or BB gun or paintball gun for your son or daughter, there clearly is going to be an arrest made if they bring it to school or get caught in the neighborhood with them," Mr. Pezzella said.

School officials aren't going to be quick to force students into the criminal justice system, but they want parents to know the ordinance exists. Students are bringing the weapons to school and passing them off as real guns in some cases, Mr. Pezzella said.

BB or pellet guns usually have red- or orange-colored tips at the end of the barrel. Mr. Pezzella said several of the guns that have been confiscated had the tips removed or colored black.

A sixth-grader was found with a BB gun with the tip removed four weeks ago.

"It is causing a lot of fear and alarm," Mr. Pezzella said.
 
I would have been in deep trouble with my parents if I took a BB gun to school.

I used to walk into the school with a shotgun or rifle quite regularly. The Principal had a gun rack in the office area and the secretary on duty would place your gun in the rack when you passed it over the counter. I've seen her with several long guns leaned against her desk and a pistol or two on her desk, because she was too busy to get them into the rack.

I got in more trouble in that school for having a camera where it wasn't supposed to be than for carrying a gun. :D

Pops
 
I used to walk into the school with a shotgun or rifle quite regularly. The Principal had a gun rack in the office area and the secretary on duty would place your gun in the rack when you passed it over the counter...../QUOTE]

How about today at that same school Pops? I wish America was like this again. At Intel plants in Israel, you check your long guns in at the security station and put your sidearm in your desk. In America, you can't even have one in your car in their parking lot. My thinking on this, we need more Israeli managers in America to infiltrate the upper echelon ranks, but that's just me.

Did the poll disappear? There's one regarding false police reports, but I don't find any BB gun poll now.

I do however, believe that the kids shooting others should receive some stiff discipline for doing such unless they're all participating in BB gun wars with each other and wearing proper safety gear. We did this as kids, all wearing goggles, rules of the amount of pumps, couldn't shoot for the face, and so on. And whattya know, no parents called the authorities. IIRC, they simply made sure that proper safety gear was in place and were quite happy to have the kids out of their hair for the afternoon. Gotta love small conservative towns. Damn I miss that culture.
 
How about today at that same school Pops? I wish America was like this again.
Hasn't been that long in some area's Jeep. Until the Federal gun laws were enacted in the 90's the school our kids ( Idaho) went to would have rifle's and shotgun's in the back windows of pickups in the High school parking lot.
 
Honestly, I don't see the problem with a minor carrying a pellet or BB gun. Bringing it to school and showing it off or shooting someone for sh**s and giggles is a different matter entirely.


Yeah well it doesn't beat my 50 bafillion votes! I've been sitting here for over 5 hours voting on this poll, along with watching the results religiously. I haven't seen the light of day, nor do i know of a thing called, "life."
I see we're taking the Low Road today. You don't know anything about me, so before you go yapping off next time without having anything positive to say, why don't you save us all the trouble and leave your attitude at home.
 
Jeepmor, it's still there. Left hand Margin part way down right above the Worchester.com logo.

As far as the voting goes, I believe the question is very misleading and in light of it being accompanied by the article doesn't reflect a very unbiased position. If I or my child were innocently shot with a BB Gun, by a minor I would grab them by the shirt collar and take them to their house and we would have a discussion with their parents, now if we were in the process of a bb gun fight all's fair.:evil:
 
our kids ( Idaho) went to would have rifle's and shotgun's in the back windows of pickups in the High school parking lot.

Maybe if we weren't allowing the idiot legislatures around the world to disarm us as a society, we wouldn't be sitting ducks for the terrorists today.

Frankly, sheep get slaughtered. And my crystal ball may be broken, but I don't see the meek inheriting the Earth anytime soon....
 
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