Sayeret
01-17-2006, 12:51 AM
Although the criminal charges are the same, more youths are opting for pellet and BB guns as their weapons of choice in armed robberies, a preference police say is motivated mostly by accessibility.
Although federal law and U.S. Department of Commerce regulations require pellet gun manufacturers to take steps to differentiate them from regular handguns, such as equipping BB guns with bright orange caps over gun barrels or making them out of clear or neon plastic, such safeguards are easily sidestepped.
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"Every one we get either has the fluorescent ring broken off or painted black or modified," said West Haven police Sgt. Paul Raucci, whose town has seen a recent spike in armed robbers using pellet guns. "It’s easily defeated."
Then there are pellet and BB guns such as the one reportedly used in an Aug. 10 holdup of five people outside the West Haven skate park on Beach Street, where the gunman had a weapon so realistic that he was able to "****" the pistol by pulling back and releasing the slide.
On Oct. 3, 18-year-old Ikeem Washington of New Haven pleaded guilty to holding up the Kismet Citgo gas station in Orange last year with a Daisy Powerline Airstrike 240 air gun that looks shockingly like a real chrome and plastic handgun, photos attached to his case file show. He and a former Ansonia man, Karl Middleton, are accused of holding up several gas stations around New Haven, Milford and Seymour last year using air guns bought at sporting goods stores.
Pellet and BB guns can produce superficial wounds or serious eye damage, but generally do not cause serious or fatal injuries.
Lethal or not, the realistic look and feel of many pellet guns recovered by police increases the chance that robbers are shot, either by police or by victims armed with real guns, Raucci said.
"As a police officer, if you point that realistic-looking Glock at me, you’re probably going to get shot," Raucci said. "Psychologically, for the officers on the street, it’s a heavy burden. ... To find out after the fact that person wasn’t armed with deadly force, that’s just about the worst thing most officers can imagine."
Determining the number of armed robberies committed with look-alike pellet and BB guns as opposed to firearms is difficult because police departments and the state police don’t usually distinguish between the two in statistical reports.
But local police and prosecutors say that the number of robbers using look-alike handguns to commit crimes appears to be increasing and that it is especially popular among young and inexperienced criminals.
"Most of them are not what I would consider to be hard-core criminals," Raucci said. "They’re young people who are just getting into crime."
David Waller, 16, of West Haven was arraigned Oct. 3 on a first-degree robbery charge for allegedly participating in the Aug. 10 skate park robbery, and police are still searching for his alleged accomplice.
Last week, another West Haven youth, 18-year-old David Tate, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in robbing the Connecticut News in December, also using a BB gun.
Part of the draw attracting robbers to pellet guns is the fact they are relatively inexpensive and more easily obtained than their more lethal counterparts. The Powerline air gun costs $20-30, while a cheap pistol retails for at least $200, gun dealers said. (Many criminals may obtain pistols illegally on the street for less.)
In order to legally buy a handgun in Connecticut, a person must be 21 years old, pass a background check, make an application to the state Department of Public Safety and wait two weeks. But someone buying a BB or pellet gun has only to show an ID that proves they are over 18 years old. It’s a restriction that Raucci and prosecutors say is easily circumvented, the same way cigarettes and alcohol end up in minors’ hands.
"These are not guns that look similar to a firearm, they look exactly like a firearm," Raucci said.
"Literally, you can go into a Wal-Mart or a ****’s (Sporting Goods store) and walk out with a realistic-looking pistol and walk next door and use it."
The Federal Imitation Gun Law and U.S. Department of Commerce regulations adopted in 1992 require toy gun manufacturers to either make the devices out of clear or neon plastic or install orange plugs over gun barrels.
Connecticut law bars people from carrying around any BB or pellet gun under its statutes governing carrying a dangerous weapon, and another law bans the sale of what are considered "facsimile firearms." However, the facsimile law specifically exempts BB and pellet guns, according to state Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
"It doesn’t make a lot of sense, because why else would you have one if not to carry it around and use it?" Lawlor said, although he is not aware of any push in the legislature to further restrict sale of pellet guns. "They’re no good for self-defense."
The Connecticut Police Chiefs Association said current laws are sufficient.
"Things that look like actual guns but are not are already dealt with pretty thoroughly under Connecticut law," said West Hartford Police Chief Jim Strillacci, past president of the association. "These things are cheap and available; we’re concerned about it, but we do have laws that address it."
A spokesman for Daisy Outdoor Products, the Rogers, Ark., company that manufactures the Powerline 240, said BB and pellet guns are designed to look realistic, because they are primarily a tool for training young shooters to use firearms.
"That’s why their use and utility needs to be so similar to a firearm," said spokesman Joe Murfin.
"Most people who train with airguns move on to a firearm."
Sporting-goods store employees say that there is little they can do to prevent pellet and air guns from being used in robberies. Tom Luedke, the floor manager at Cubeta’s in Middlefield for the past 16 years, noted that people who are 18 years old are considered adults and can legally buy more dangerous weapons like long rifles and ammunition.
"Most people that come in to buy pellet guns come equipped with parents," he said. "After 18 years old, you’re an adult and should know right from wrong. ... If you want to hold up a gas station with an air gun, you deserve to get shot." Stratford has banned the sale of BB and pellet guns for years, but police there say that it’s hard to tell whether the law has decreased armed robberies in that town. Shelton considered a similar ban on BB guns, pellet guns and paintball guns in 2000, but Mayor Mark A. Lauretti withdrew the legislation amid criticism, mostly from paintball enthusiasts and some city aldermen.
Bridgeport, Newington and Rocky Hill also have laws on the books banning the sale of pellet and BB guns within their borders.
Whether a real firearm or a look-alike is used in the commission of a robbery doesn’t matter much, as far as prosecution goes. State’s Attorney Mary M. Galvin, who has noticed an increase in robbers using pellet and BB guns in recent years, said that a first-degree robbery charge relies only upon the accused representing that the handgun is real.
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15358761&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=6
Although federal law and U.S. Department of Commerce regulations require pellet gun manufacturers to take steps to differentiate them from regular handguns, such as equipping BB guns with bright orange caps over gun barrels or making them out of clear or neon plastic, such safeguards are easily sidestepped.
Advertisement
"Every one we get either has the fluorescent ring broken off or painted black or modified," said West Haven police Sgt. Paul Raucci, whose town has seen a recent spike in armed robbers using pellet guns. "It’s easily defeated."
Then there are pellet and BB guns such as the one reportedly used in an Aug. 10 holdup of five people outside the West Haven skate park on Beach Street, where the gunman had a weapon so realistic that he was able to "****" the pistol by pulling back and releasing the slide.
On Oct. 3, 18-year-old Ikeem Washington of New Haven pleaded guilty to holding up the Kismet Citgo gas station in Orange last year with a Daisy Powerline Airstrike 240 air gun that looks shockingly like a real chrome and plastic handgun, photos attached to his case file show. He and a former Ansonia man, Karl Middleton, are accused of holding up several gas stations around New Haven, Milford and Seymour last year using air guns bought at sporting goods stores.
Pellet and BB guns can produce superficial wounds or serious eye damage, but generally do not cause serious or fatal injuries.
Lethal or not, the realistic look and feel of many pellet guns recovered by police increases the chance that robbers are shot, either by police or by victims armed with real guns, Raucci said.
"As a police officer, if you point that realistic-looking Glock at me, you’re probably going to get shot," Raucci said. "Psychologically, for the officers on the street, it’s a heavy burden. ... To find out after the fact that person wasn’t armed with deadly force, that’s just about the worst thing most officers can imagine."
Determining the number of armed robberies committed with look-alike pellet and BB guns as opposed to firearms is difficult because police departments and the state police don’t usually distinguish between the two in statistical reports.
But local police and prosecutors say that the number of robbers using look-alike handguns to commit crimes appears to be increasing and that it is especially popular among young and inexperienced criminals.
"Most of them are not what I would consider to be hard-core criminals," Raucci said. "They’re young people who are just getting into crime."
David Waller, 16, of West Haven was arraigned Oct. 3 on a first-degree robbery charge for allegedly participating in the Aug. 10 skate park robbery, and police are still searching for his alleged accomplice.
Last week, another West Haven youth, 18-year-old David Tate, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in robbing the Connecticut News in December, also using a BB gun.
Part of the draw attracting robbers to pellet guns is the fact they are relatively inexpensive and more easily obtained than their more lethal counterparts. The Powerline air gun costs $20-30, while a cheap pistol retails for at least $200, gun dealers said. (Many criminals may obtain pistols illegally on the street for less.)
In order to legally buy a handgun in Connecticut, a person must be 21 years old, pass a background check, make an application to the state Department of Public Safety and wait two weeks. But someone buying a BB or pellet gun has only to show an ID that proves they are over 18 years old. It’s a restriction that Raucci and prosecutors say is easily circumvented, the same way cigarettes and alcohol end up in minors’ hands.
"These are not guns that look similar to a firearm, they look exactly like a firearm," Raucci said.
"Literally, you can go into a Wal-Mart or a ****’s (Sporting Goods store) and walk out with a realistic-looking pistol and walk next door and use it."
The Federal Imitation Gun Law and U.S. Department of Commerce regulations adopted in 1992 require toy gun manufacturers to either make the devices out of clear or neon plastic or install orange plugs over gun barrels.
Connecticut law bars people from carrying around any BB or pellet gun under its statutes governing carrying a dangerous weapon, and another law bans the sale of what are considered "facsimile firearms." However, the facsimile law specifically exempts BB and pellet guns, according to state Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
"It doesn’t make a lot of sense, because why else would you have one if not to carry it around and use it?" Lawlor said, although he is not aware of any push in the legislature to further restrict sale of pellet guns. "They’re no good for self-defense."
The Connecticut Police Chiefs Association said current laws are sufficient.
"Things that look like actual guns but are not are already dealt with pretty thoroughly under Connecticut law," said West Hartford Police Chief Jim Strillacci, past president of the association. "These things are cheap and available; we’re concerned about it, but we do have laws that address it."
A spokesman for Daisy Outdoor Products, the Rogers, Ark., company that manufactures the Powerline 240, said BB and pellet guns are designed to look realistic, because they are primarily a tool for training young shooters to use firearms.
"That’s why their use and utility needs to be so similar to a firearm," said spokesman Joe Murfin.
"Most people who train with airguns move on to a firearm."
Sporting-goods store employees say that there is little they can do to prevent pellet and air guns from being used in robberies. Tom Luedke, the floor manager at Cubeta’s in Middlefield for the past 16 years, noted that people who are 18 years old are considered adults and can legally buy more dangerous weapons like long rifles and ammunition.
"Most people that come in to buy pellet guns come equipped with parents," he said. "After 18 years old, you’re an adult and should know right from wrong. ... If you want to hold up a gas station with an air gun, you deserve to get shot." Stratford has banned the sale of BB and pellet guns for years, but police there say that it’s hard to tell whether the law has decreased armed robberies in that town. Shelton considered a similar ban on BB guns, pellet guns and paintball guns in 2000, but Mayor Mark A. Lauretti withdrew the legislation amid criticism, mostly from paintball enthusiasts and some city aldermen.
Bridgeport, Newington and Rocky Hill also have laws on the books banning the sale of pellet and BB guns within their borders.
Whether a real firearm or a look-alike is used in the commission of a robbery doesn’t matter much, as far as prosecution goes. State’s Attorney Mary M. Galvin, who has noticed an increase in robbers using pellet and BB guns in recent years, said that a first-degree robbery charge relies only upon the accused representing that the handgun is real.
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15358761&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=6