Big Brother to target BB guns?
by Bob Barr 
Special to The Marietta Daily Journal

ATLANTA, GA (Jan. 13) -One of our family's favorite Christmas movies is "A Christmas Story." This Holiday classic recounts the yearnings of young Ralphie for a Red Ryder BB gun, and details his devious plan to secure one for Christmas despite his mother's fears he will "shoot his eye out." If some in Cobb County have their way, young Ralphie would not only run the risk of "shooting his eye out" (he didn't, by the way), but would be subject to being prosecuted as a criminal if he used his "weapon" to shoot a tin can in his own back yard.

   All of us as individuals and as parents have a responsibility to ensure our children handle BB guns and similarly potentially dangerous toys responsibly. Moreover, we must recognize we will be liable if such use results in harm to persons or property. Before the Cobb County Commission moves to outlaw air guns, or so severely restrict their use that they might as well be outlawed, I suggest we take a collective deep breath and rest easy.

   The fact of the matter is, the irresponsible use of a BB gun is already illegal. I recall a young man I represented years ago - before I served in the Congress - who had fired a BB gun irresponsibly, and damaged a neighbor's glass patio door. Charges were brought and, if my memory serves me correctly, the case was handled without the young man receiving a permanent criminal stain on his record as a result of his foolish actions. However, the seriousness with which the local prosecutor addressed the matter drove the point home to the young man and his parents that his behavior was very dangerous and possibly criminal.

  The laws today in Cobb, under both county ordinances and state law, remain very clear - if you discharge a BB gun in an irresponsible manner or cause harm or property damage, or if you fire it onto someone else's property without permission, you can - and should be - held accountable. 

   Why then are some citizens in Cobb now clamoring for tougher anti-BB gun measures; designed essentially to make it so difficult to fire a BB gun and meet ordinance limitations, that their use anywhere in the county would be virtually impossible? Why? Because we live in an age in which every problem or perceived problem is seen not as the responsibility of parents and citizens to resolve, but the responsibility of the government - federal, state or local - to prohibit. It's the "Patriot Act syndrome": if some action is deemed undesirable in any way, shape or form, it must be outlawed. Thus, we see the Patriot Act now being used to prosecute, under threat of 25 years in federal prison, a stupid resident of New Jersey for aiming a lawful, though dangerous laser measuring device at an aircraft, just to "see what it did." Even though the FBI and the New Jersey U.S. Attorney conceded there was no evidence whatsoever this New Jersey jerk was a terrorist or wanted to cause any harm, he is now being prosecuted under the full weight of the Patriot Act, a law enacted to provide the federal government tools to fight terrorists.

   California Sen. Diane Feinstein, upon learning that violent gang activity is on the rise in Southern California, recently called not for more aggressive and consistent use of existing police and prosecutorial powers already available to the authorities. Instead, she is calling for new and expanded federal legislation. The fact that such gang activity can already be fully prosecuted under both federal and state laws seems to escape the good senator; just as the fact that some parents in Cobb seem not to care that the improper use of a BB gun is already subject to limitation and prosecution under Georgia and Cobb County laws.

   A recent study of federal crimes concluded that there are so many actions that potentially constitute violations of federal laws it has become impossible to tell how many federal crimes there actually are. At a minimum there are more than 4,000; hundreds more are found in the Georgia and Cobb codes. We don't need more. If a child in Cobb irresponsibly discharges a BB gun, let's leave it to the parents to fulfill their responsibility and take remedial action. If they can't or won't, and it's a serious enough problem, then talk with our district attorney or county solicitor. They already have the tools to address the problem, for Heaven's sake.

Attorney Bob Barr of Smyrna formerly represented west Cobb in the U.S. Congress.Photo special to MDJ

Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker takes aim with a Red Ryder BB gun in the 1983 holiday classic movie 'A Christmas Story.'