MikeE
28-07-2006, 12:30
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10393330
National News
Don't treat 'fun' air guns as toys, police warn
Friday July 28, 2006
Police want the public to reconsider the role of air guns as the number of incidents of drive-by shootings rise.
Paint guns are categorised as air guns under New Zealand law, therefore it is illegal for them to be used by people under 18 who do not have a firearms licence.
"People need to realise they are not toys," said Inspector Joe Green.
"The general public tend to view these as toys.
"Parents buy them for their young and it's not until they are used at people that people appreciate they are a problem."
A young Opotiki boy almost lost his sight at the hands of paintball sharp-shooters.
On Sunday, he told police that a paintball shot fired from a passing vehicle in the town narrowly missed his eye.
The next day police spoke to a pair of 16-year-old boys after two girls were struck by shots fired from a car.
Senior Sergeant Warwick Morehu of Opotiki said police were taking the incidents very seriously.
"The people doing this can be charged with assault with a weapon," he warned.
In the past year about 33 per cent of all firearms seized were air guns, he said, but the vast majority were being used responsibly.
Mr Green said paint guns were of particular concern because of the fun factor involved in their marketing.
Police had produced a pamphlet with the Mountain Safety Council called Beginning with Airguns, he said.
"It explains to people that they are not toys, and the penalties that can be committed."
The pamphlets were also being distributed to air gun dealers, Mr Green said.
"We are looking seriously at the supplier and saying it's unlawful to sell them to a person who isn't over 18 and doesn't have a firearms licence."
The print version has a picture of brendon charles at Rotorua in 2001.
Talked to pete and he knew nothing about the article.
National News
Don't treat 'fun' air guns as toys, police warn
Friday July 28, 2006
Police want the public to reconsider the role of air guns as the number of incidents of drive-by shootings rise.
Paint guns are categorised as air guns under New Zealand law, therefore it is illegal for them to be used by people under 18 who do not have a firearms licence.
"People need to realise they are not toys," said Inspector Joe Green.
"The general public tend to view these as toys.
"Parents buy them for their young and it's not until they are used at people that people appreciate they are a problem."
A young Opotiki boy almost lost his sight at the hands of paintball sharp-shooters.
On Sunday, he told police that a paintball shot fired from a passing vehicle in the town narrowly missed his eye.
The next day police spoke to a pair of 16-year-old boys after two girls were struck by shots fired from a car.
Senior Sergeant Warwick Morehu of Opotiki said police were taking the incidents very seriously.
"The people doing this can be charged with assault with a weapon," he warned.
In the past year about 33 per cent of all firearms seized were air guns, he said, but the vast majority were being used responsibly.
Mr Green said paint guns were of particular concern because of the fun factor involved in their marketing.
Police had produced a pamphlet with the Mountain Safety Council called Beginning with Airguns, he said.
"It explains to people that they are not toys, and the penalties that can be committed."
The pamphlets were also being distributed to air gun dealers, Mr Green said.
"We are looking seriously at the supplier and saying it's unlawful to sell them to a person who isn't over 18 and doesn't have a firearms licence."
The print version has a picture of brendon charles at Rotorua in 2001.
Talked to pete and he knew nothing about the article.