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Senator Takes Aim At Guns That Look Real But Aren't
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By JOSH POLTILOVE jpoltilove@tampatrib.com
Published: Feb 28, 2006
TAMPA - Weeks after a Seminole County deputy fatally shot an eighth-grader holding a pellet gun, a state senator is seeking to prohibit most sales of imitation firearms in Florida.
Sen. Frederica S. Wilson said her bill also might be revised to prohibit the sale of real guns painted to look like fakes.
"We can't set up our kids to become victims, and we shouldn't force our law enforcement officers to become victims," the Miami Democrat said. "That's just unconscionable."
The bill targets toy or replica guns "so substantially similar in coloration and overall appearance to a firearm ... as to lead a reasonable person to believe that a device is a firearm."
Violators could be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor for a first offense and a third-degree felony for multiple offenses.
A similar federal law doesn't carry criminal penalties, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Wilson said she introduced the bill partly in reaction to the death of the 15-year-old eighth-grader who was shot after pointing a pellet gun resembling a 9 mm handgun. The bill also comes after an incident in Wilson's district where a 16-year-old boy holding a toy gun was shot dead by police.
"The gun lobbyists, of course, we might meet some resistance from them," she said.
Marion Hammer, a Florida lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, said the bill would not have much effect given its similarity to the federal law, which prohibits manufacturing, selling or shipping real-looking imitation guns.
"I'm not sure in its current form it would do any harm, but I don't see it doing any good, either," Hammer said.
She wouldn't speculate on possible revisions to the bill, including outlawing the sale of real guns that resemble fake ones.
Jim Astle said his gun supply store in Baraboo, Wis., is one of about 65 businesses nationwide that use DuraCoat to paint guns. For $300 or more, he will paint a real gun in colors such as lime green, stock red and pink.
Astle said he typically paints two guns a week for customers who want their weapons to look different.
The painted guns resemble toys, he said, but ordering DuraCoat is "not something a kid's going to do."
"And it's not something a criminal is going to do," Astle said.
Tampa Police Department Officer Greg Hattle is concerned about that possibility, however.
"Vanity colors - that's playtime," he said. "There's no need for them."
Officers must decide quickly whether a gun is real or fake, and hesitation or confusion could be fatal.
"I don't want to be the one to hurt someone over a piece of plastic," Hattle said.
Florida law prohibits people younger than 16 from buying or possessing a BB gun without an adult present, but the statute does not cover pellet guns.
Wilson's bill allows the sale of imitation guns for such uses as military or civil defense activities, theatrical productions or regulated sporting events.
The Hillsborough County school district confiscated four firearms and 265 other weapons, including imitation firearms, on campuses during the 2004-05 school year.
Spokesman Steve Hegarty said the district supports "any legislation that would help make schools safer."
"But we already prohibit this stuff on campuses."
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