BEAVERTON – It’s official: Airsoft guns and other realistic looking toy firearms are prohibited in Beaverton’s public places.
The City Council passed a new ordinance Monday night regulating the use and possession of replica firearms in public.
It goes into effect March 31 following a public outreach effort by the Beaverton Police Department, Beaverton School District and city to educate students and families about the new rules.
“In passing this ordinance we are being proactive and taking a step in the right direction before a tragedy happens,” said Beaverton Police Chief David Bishop. “We’re hoping it will deter some people from displaying these guns in public and causing alarm.”
In the next month, Officers Andrew Halbert and Mike Hanada will launch an education campaign and distribute brochures about the ordinance to community partners.
The approved ordinance regulates possession of replica firearms in public places including highways, streets, schools, places of amusement, parks, playgrounds, public transportation centers and common areas of apartments and hotels.
Under the ordinance, a replica firearm is any toy or imitation that substantially duplicates a lethal firearm or can reasonably be perceived to be an actual firearm.
The rules would not apply to brightly colored toy guns or those constructed of transparent or translucent materials.
It also does not restrict the use of replica guns on private property, including backyards.
Anyone violating the ordinance could get a citation.
Beaverton is the first Oregon city to adopt a replica gun ban for public places.
Monday, March 05, 2007
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So let me understand this. The police in Beaverton can't tell the guns 13 year olds are shooting each other with arent real? The lack of a bang and the fact the kids dont drop dead are the first clue.
ReplyDeleteDo you really think this ordinance will stop stupid people from doing stupid things with Fake guns?
So, let me get this straight.
ReplyDeleteIn all of the places that these replica guns are being banned (except schools), it is legal to carry a real gun, but not a toy gun? That seems a little weird to me. How is it that they are allowed to ban replicas when banning real guns in many of these places would be illegal?
First of all, "David," you are ignorant. I don't think the ordinance will "stop stupid people from doing stupid things with Fake guns," but the issue is complex. The poice dept. in Bvtn responds to dozens of complaints per year regarding people pointing fake guns out the windows of cars, or "suspicious" subjects seen with, what appeared to a citizen, to be a firearm. These calls for service all require a poilce response which the cops take very seriously. The response expends valuable resources and when it turns out to be a fake gun, all the suspect gets is a stern warning? Or what about the 10 year old kid playing outside with an "airsoft" gun that gets pointed at a cop? Those toys look incredibly realistic and I doubt you could tell the difference in a split second from a few yards away if one was pointed at you! An ordinance like this, with a little education, could avert a potential tragedy. I think it's a much needed ordinance that will allow the police to educate the public and take enforcement action when needed.
ReplyDeleteHey, some one called the S.W.A.T team on my younger brother because they saw the airsoft gun a friend returned to him at church after it had been left at a sleep over, so it can be a real problem. If my brother hadn't dropped the toy that he had totaly forgoten he was holding (it's just a toy!)the nervous and trained-to-be-over-zealous cop with a shotgun to the side of his head would have blow his brains out.
ReplyDeleteStupid people do stupid things and understandably get in trouble for it but that doesn't mean we need a law banning real or fake guns. Because the problem is not that people carry toy guns, or real ones, in public places, the problem is that everyone in this country has been trained by our media and public schools to think that any one with a gun is automatically a bad guy.
Instead of banning firearms, which there is another bill in the House Committees trying to do again, what we need is a law requiring, or at least encouraging upstanding citizens to know how to use, and carry, fire arms. This world would be a lot better off if everybody was packing' like in the old west because then the morons who would shoot somebody or rob a bank would think twice because they know they might get shot too.
I lived in Portland and Beaverton from 1990 to 2000 and I cannot remember anyone pointing a replica gun at me anywhere at anytime. In fact, I can't remember ever seeing a replica gun during my 10 years in Oregon. Leave it to the left wing Liberals. They are all control freaks and will travel any road with any excuse to take up any cause that can give them the leverage to secure and maintain control. It is difficult to believe we continue to elect people like this.
ReplyDeleteOK so what positive things does this do? If a kid is found in public playing with a toy gun does that mean the cops should now just assume it is real and shoot the kid? I really don't see the point of this.
ReplyDelete"First of all, "David," you are ignorant.
ReplyDeleteTypical Liberal smugness. If people dont agree with your point of view thet are ignorant.
I am a firearms dealer that DEMOS guns to law enforcement agencies. I have a number of high quality AIRSOFT guns I bring with me to the DEMOS. These guns are the exact weight and dimensions of the real guns I DEMO. I do this not to scare the officers, but to educate them as to what is out there. The Families need to be responsible for TEACHING the kids the correct use for these guns. We don't need the city of Beaverton BANNING toy guns. Next they will ban the real ones.
ReplyDelete"the problem is that everyone in this country has been trained by our media and public schools to think that any one with a gun is automatically a bad guy."
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more. I'm a recruiter for the National Rifle Association and I certainly see this as a useless law that gives the Government the authority to control our lives even more. The biggest problem with laws like this is once they've banned fake guns, what's stopping them from banning real guns? It's a slippery slope that I'm not willing to slide down.