Gun Control: Graves Act Mandates BB Gun Registration

BB gun control laws in New Jersey could make the classic childhood took a thing of the past. The popular youth guns may be gathering dust on store shelves in the Garden State due the enactment of the Graves Act. The law requires BB guns to be registered and subject to the exact same laws as deadly firearms used for hunting and self-defense purposes.

Parents may no longer be uttering, “You could shout your eye out, kid” when issuing safety warnings after a longed for BB gun is unwrapped on Christmas morning. The New Jersey BB gun control law could make possession of such a prized possession a felony. The holiday classic, A Christmas Story made Daisy’s Red Ryder BB gun a favorite gift for both boys and girls for decades.

New Jersey attorney William Proetta had this to say to Fox News when asked about the latest gun control law to hit the books:

“In all honesty, kids who are charged are looking at mandatory jail time. The only defense is to request a waiver but if that’s not granted, young kids can get a felony charge and their lives are basically over.”

Violation of the Graves Act will place offenders behind bars for a minimum three years and carries a steep fine. According to attorney Poetta, the New Jersey County in which the crime occurred will play a significant role in the fate of the toy gun owner. A judge can reportedly opt to issue a Graves Act waver or downgrade the charge – but the court officials are not bound to do so.

Although several other states have enacted BB gun laws, the New Jersey legislation appears to have enacted the most stringent guidelines and requirements to date. In Virginia, BB guns are still considered toys unless they are used in the commission of a crime. The same piece of New Jersey gun control legislation also outlawed the filing off of serial numbers on guns, sawed-off shotguns, and the use of any type of firearm during a crime.

Daisy spokesman Joe Murfin had this to say about New Jersey’s Graves Act:

“In our opinion and the federal government’s, our products are not firearms as there is no combustion in the chamber. While we disagree, we respect a state’s law for whatever reason they may have one.”

A New York man was also recently arrested for a BB gun incident in Queens Park. The man was arrested after he allegedly fired a “lifelike weapon” and then turning the gun over to his toddler son. His wife feels they are the “victims of other parent’s overreaction” toy guns.

Jack Pawlowski was taken away from his family in handcuffs while his astonished wife and three children watched. During an interview with local CBS 2, Pawlowski stated they he went to Ditmars Park with two of his children and the toy gun around noon. The dad also noted that some of the New York parents feared that the BB guns were real at first glance.

Some gun control advocates may suggest that Second Amendment supporters are exaggerating the severity of the law and how it will be applied, but a precedent has already been set. In October a New Jersey man was arrested for shooting an airsoft gun at a toy duck being used for target practice – in his own back yard. Idyriss Thomas wound up in handcuffs after a neighbor called 911 to report spotting a man with a gun in Glassboro.

The 22-year-old’s family posted the necessary $2,500 bail for the unlawful discharge of a weapon violation. “I didn’t realize what I had in my hand would cause the events that happened today. I had the airsoft gun in my hand, playing with it, taking shots at a rubber ducky, not harming anybody,” Thomas told Philadelphia WPVI reporter.

A mom at the park during the BB gun incident told the media she does not tend to take things “lying down” and confronted Pawlowski, telling his to take his kids and his toy gun and leave the public area. She also stated that he was “brandishing a firearm” and even though the so-called weapon was merely a toy, the woman still deemed the activity unacceptable.

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. stated that the arrest serves an educational purpose, to remind everyone that running around with a realistic looking gun is illegal and will get you sent straight to jail.

http://youtu.be/YleZvTSDC6s

How do you feel about the Graves Act and BB gun control laws now on the books?

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