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IN OUR VIEW: Are we safer with a ban on BB guns?
THE POINT — Hey kid, you'll shoot your eye out. Just not between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.
July 15, 2012 6:00 AM
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Citizens of Odessa can now rest easy. BB guns are banned in public between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. after the Odessa City Council last week passed an ordinance pushed by Police Chief Tim Burton. Along with the BB gun, it bans airsoft guns and slingshots on a person or in a vehicle (except in a trunk) at night.

Now, we acknowledge a recent spat of vandalism destroyed windows and other property throughout town. Burton said 158 criminal mischief acts occurred in the last year and they were primarily after dark. He called the new ordinance a helpful law to help combat the vandalism.

We're all for helping out our friends in blue, but this is a puzzling ordinance, and we wonder if the city is through.

What otherwise legal item will be up for banning next? Paintball guns are still legal to possess but not shoot and cause nearly as much damage. How about baseball bats? Rocks? Eggs? Car keys?...

Maybe they should just make it illegal to go around committing vandalism... oh, wait...

Just one more ordinance to mess with people. If you are "in possession" the LEOs do not need to tie you to any other crime. LEOs' don't need any more reasons to stop and seach.

Envision a CHL holder running out for a quick errand at 10:00 pm. Sticks the wrong ugly black plastic gun in his super tuck. Gets stopped for rolling a stop sign. Officer disarms CHL holder and finds an airsoft instead of (caliber) ugly black real gun. Busted!!!!

Until Odessa can do something about the pervasive everpresent smell of flatulence in the air, that town has bigger issues than BB guns.

I know, I know.....that's the smell of money; but still.......

I'm likely missing something here, but isn't it all about giving the Odessa police probable cause to stop a car full of yahoos driving down the street and giving the neighborhood grief? Let's see, the cops see some cars shot up with windows broken. They didn't see who dun it. But they spy that car of yahoos with the windows rolled down and their sling shots blowing in the wind. Now they can stop them, check the ball bearings against those just used to break glass, and maybe make a case. This is all about catching stupid kids with way too much time on their hands, and turning them into community service volunteers. I doubt it is going to go any farther than that....

Sounds a little like sour grapes. If they can't do anything about real guns, then they're going to ban whatever they do still have control over. Say, can I carry an airsoft handgun under the authority of my CHL?

gdanaher wrote: This is all about catching stupid kids with way too much time on their hands, and turning them into community service volunteers. I doubt it is going to go any farther than that....

You're right, government never oversteps the bounds of the original intentions and goals of a program they start.

74novaman wrote:You're right, government never oversteps the bounds of the original intentions and goals of a program they start.

The responsiveness of the legislative body is directly proportional to their proximity to the population they seek to represent.

gdanaher wrote:I'm likely missing something here, but isn't it all about giving the Odessa police probable cause to stop a car full of yahoos driving down the street and giving the neighborhood grief? Let's see, the cops see some cars shot up with windows broken. They didn't see who dun it. But they spy that car of yahoos with the windows rolled down and their sling shots blowing in the wind. Now they can stop them, check the ball bearings against those just used to break glass, and maybe make a case. This is all about catching stupid kids with way too much time on their hands, and turning them into community service volunteers. I doubt it is going to go any farther than that....

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but using your scenario above, if there were broken windows and the cops saw slingshots blowing in the breeze they would have probable cause to make a stop before this law was put into place. Similarly, broken windows or not, if an officer on patrol sees a carload of yahoos driving around with windows down and barrels of unknown but firearm appearing weapons sticking out, I am pretty sure that a felony stop is in store. Same goes for if an officer makes a traffic stop and happens to observe something that appears to be a weapon (but turns out to be a bb or airsoft gun) lying on the back seat. It may not have been illegal, but most definitely would have been investigated for the sake of officer safety. Then, simple deduction after the fact could lead to a broken windows+bb gun in back seat+ multiple youts in a vehicle at night = pretty good clue who the suspects may be type of hypothesis.

I am not sure what need most law abiding citizens have of an airgun in the wee hours of the night, but it is not my position to judge or determine either. Whether they be attempting to neutralize a garbage stealing possum or conducting "tacticool" airsoft night operations, the otherwise law abiding are now unable to legally engage in their pursuit. Vandalism is already illegal. I am not sure about Odessa, but can probably guess there is some sort of curfew in place. I might be off base but I just don't see how this new law does anything to give officers an edge in finding the punks who are committing the crime, it only serves to restrict the masses and possibly become an after the fact type of charge, akin to felony firearm. How does that really serve anybody?

AlphaWhiskey wrote:Maybe they should just make it illegal to go around committing vandalism... oh, wait...

Whoa now...there you go making sense...probably a statute prohibiting THAT on the books somewhere too.

Once anything gets put in place, it rarely goes away. One of my personal peeves is the passage of "hate crime" legislation when some illegal behavior ALREADY prohibited occurs to a someone because of race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. What difference does that make? Assault, Aggravated Assault, Homicide, etc...are already felony offenses. I don't care WHY the BG committed the act, it's still the same crime. If someone tries to kill me for NO reason, why is that not as bad as someone trying to kill me because he's a racist/homophobe/or just hates tall guys?