Council finds airsoft guns hard to back

Lolita Harper

City leaders on Tuesday banned the use of airsoft guns in the city,

citing safety of those who play with toy guns and peace of mind for

officers who may not be able to distinguish them from real firearms

in a split second.

Council members voted 5 to 1 to ban the firing of airsoft guns.

City officials said people would still be allowed to own and carry

the toy weapons; they would simply not be able to fire them -- not

even on private property.

“This is also an attempt to save the lives of the young men who

may be carrying [these guns],” Mayor Tod Ridgeway said.

Councilman Dick Nichols dissented, saying he agreed that these

weapons are not appropriate toys, but even in this case, his support

of the ban would weaken the right to bear firearms.

“These are not the kind of toys that you play around with, but I

think you need to support the 2nd Amendment,” Nichols said. “The

reason we can’t take over Iraq is because they have guns in their

homes.”

Nichols’ colleagues, however, did not see the toy gun issue as

that far-reaching and sided with Newport Beach Police Chief Bob

McDonell, who said the mock automatic machine guns pose a

considerable threat to those who carry them. The chief said his

department receives calls almost daily about “youths carrying

weapons,” and that the inability for people -- especially officers --

to distinguish the toys from the real guns is a “tragedy waiting to

happen.”

McDonell displayed several guns on a table in council chambers and

asked the councilmen to determine between the fake and real ones.

Most of the councilmen could distinguish between the two but only

through less-than-obvious distinctions.

“Could you tell that in a low light, or even in the daylight in a

split second?” McDonell asked, then picked up a toy weapon made to

look like a 9-millimeter handgun. “If someone leveled this at a

police officer, I think you can understand what would happen.”

The chief explained that certain guns, such as the airsoft guns

popular with boys who like to play war games in part of the Back Bay,

are not held to state legislation that requires fake gun

manufacturers to use bright, bold colors to distinguish them from

real firearms. The industry was able to circumvent the law because

airsoft guns have a firing mechanism not outlined in the legislation.

Newport Beach already prohibits the discharge of BB and paintball

guns.

Although the main safety concern revolves around possession of the

weapons and possible confusion from police officers, city officials

said Newport Beach cannot enforce anything but the “discharging” of

the weapon. The sale and possession of weapons is governed by the

California Penal Code, not city legislature, City Atty. Bob Burnham

said.

Proponents of airsoft guns argue the toys provide an outlet for

children, in terms of creativity, exercise and strategy. They say

children play war games in remote areas to stay away from the daily

city routine. Others have likened airsoft guns to the Red Ryder BB

guns and war games to cops and robbers of yesteryear.

Audience member and Newport Beach resident Louise Fundenberg

applauded the council’s efforts, saying she could not distinguish the

real guns from the fake. Fundenberg added that children in the middle

of the excitement and adrenaline of a war game may not understand

that a police officer would mistake their toys for real guns.

“They’re probably thinking, ‘It’s only a toy, doesn’t [the

officer] know it’s only a toy?’”