Dallas may drop the hammer on toy guns

Dallas Morning News (TX) ^ | 8/8/06 | DAVE LEVINTHAL

[kiriath_jearim]

Dallas may drop the hammer on toy guns

Safety panel vote puts city closer to adopting strict ordinance

11:10 PM CDT on Monday, August 7, 2006

By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News

They're Americana slipped into the holsters of little boys in cowboy hats.

But after a 7-1 vote by the City Council's public safety committee, Dallas is closer than ever to passing one of the nation's strictest ordinances regulating the sale and possession of toy guns.

The committee directed City Attorney Tom Perkins to craft an ordinance that would ban all toy guns except those painted a bright color, such as hot pink or neon green, or made of transparent or translucent material.

The toys would also have to reflect light.

Toy guns that don't fit the city's paint/reflection criteria would be illegal even if kept inside a private home or vehicle, council members said.

"I would have liked to see the city absolutely outlaw toy look-alike replica guns, but to get anything progressive done in this part of the country is significant," said the Rev. Peter Johnson, who through the community activism organization Weed & Seed has advocated banning toy guns locally.

Dallas should model its proposal after New York City's toy-gun ordinance, regarded as one of the country's most stringent, the committee told Mr. Perkins. A small percentage of municipalities, including Plano, have also further regulated toy guns beyond a federal provision requiring toy makers to place an orange cap over gun barrels.

[SerpentDove]

If they outlaw toy guns, only outlaws will have toy guns.

[mtbopfuyn]

They'd do better to ban real guns from street gangs in Dallas.

[Tijeras_Slim]

When they came for the lawn darts I did nothing...

[SerpentDove]

LOL

[Sax]

[Xenalyte]

Dallas is filled with metrosexual pantywaists. It no more belongs in Texas than Austin does.

[rarestia]

Do they have a problem with illegal toy guns in that area? Menacing child gangs in their cowboy hats and chaps, perhaps?

[BikerGold]

socialism to a brief hiatus after 9/11, but now "Wendy! I'm Hooooooooooooooooooome!"

[weegee]

Toy guns that don't fit the city's paint/reflection criteria would be illegal even if kept inside a private home or vehicle, council members said.

No more "action" movies will be shot in Dallas then.

[dfwgator]

I feel safer already. /s

[Renegade]

Citizens of the People's Republic of China re NOT allowed to possess toy guns of any kind ! Sound familiar??

[BlessedBeGod]

Don't they have anything more important to do?

[somniferum]

Liberalism truly is a mental disorder.

[Sunshine Sister]

Don't these people have anything to do? They are certainly wasting tax payer money!

[Paleo Conservative]

I think the Texas legislature should override this PC nonsense. No wonder the Dallas Cowboys are moving even further from Dallas.

[visualops]

To think when I was a kid we had bb gun and an archery set (pointy metal-tipped arrows) and cap guns etc. Not to mention matches that would strike on just about anything...

[sarasota]

Fox had a bit on states that allow homeowners the right to bear arms and protect their homes from "invaders". Texas was not on their list. ???

[ChessMan]

We should send em toy guns.

[LRS]

The committee directed City Attorney Tom Perkins to craft an ordinance that would ban all toy guns except those painted a bright color, such as hot pink or neon green, or made of transparent or translucent material.

The toys would also have to reflect light.

OK, I have to ask this question. What is to prevent someone from doctoring up a real gun so that it resembles a toy?

[federal]

I don't know why Texans have always had the right to defend their homes. The police won't even carry you to the station for a statement.

[Highest Authority]

The only thing dumber than a liberal, is two liberals!!!

[GeronL]

well.... Prison Break the series 2nd season is being filmed out here.

[Paperdoll]

How sad! No more cowboys and indians. (Now politically incorrect, of course!) No more cops and robbers! Our little boys will have courage, innovation and the manly art of protection sucked out them. I say give 'em more toy guns, given 'em bows and arrows! And maybe our little boys will grow up to be real men, just like their grandfathers.

[dljordan]

"Dallas is filled with metrosexual pantywaists. It no more belongs in Texas than Austin does."

What we're seeing in America is European style socialism and it's attendant PC sensitivities and politics being slowly implemented a piece at a time.

[ElkGroveDan]

Why don't they drop the hammer on REAL criminals?

[ElkGroveDan]

To think when I was a kid we had bb gun and an archery set (pointy metal-tipped arrows) and cap guns etc. ...

And kids running through yards and jumping fences with real looking guns shouting "I'm going to kill you." Somehow we all survived.

[Desron13]

"Fox had a bit on states that allow homeowners the right to bear arms and protect their homes from "invaders". Texas was not on their list. ???"

If it wasn't, it should have been. Texas is a "right to carry" state. The law here says that if I see some punk carrying off my TV set and he is about to get away and I have no reasonable chance of recovering it, I can shoot him in the back. How cool is that? So now we may have come to a situation where people can own and carry real guns but not fake guns. The well of liberal insanity just keeps getting deeper and deeper.

[Arthalion]

Several years ago I had a pantywaisted neighbor start complaining to me about my son and his toy guns. She started ranting that it wasn't safe for children to play with guns because "it will make him want to play with real guns, and we ALL KNOW how dangerous those are." You should have seen the color drain from her face when I mentioned that my son already has a .22 hanging over the doorway in his bedroom. She stormed off, but ended up ranting to my wife later that it was "insane" that we would allow our children to handle firearms. My wife, bless her soul, offered to take the neighbor shooting to dispel some of her misconceptions about firearms. The neighbor never did take her up on the offer.

[Sam Cree]

Not to be provocative, but Texas is turning into a nanny state. This is weird.

[untrained skeptic]

They'd do better to ban real guns from street gangs in Dallas.

They'd do better to ban the street gangs.

It's not the guns that are the problem.

They've already banned criminals, but they aren't effective in combating crime.

Instead of going after criminals, they instead create laws that just interfere with law abiding citizens and continue doing a poor job of enforcing laws.

Maybe what they need to ban is worthless politicians.

[CAP811]

Oh goodie, we teach our kids guns are evil bad things,
and our enemy teaches their kids how to fire a AK-47.

[weegee]

Guess even the actors playing cops won't have guns if they don't want to break the law.

I wouldn't want Hollywood to have rights than a mere citizen does not.

[weegee]

Yep. And that is one thing that Kinky Friedman claims to be running against. The wussification of Texas.

[weegee]

Too much money in payoffs.

[FFIGHTER]

Dallas is a cesspool of liberal activism, on par with Berkley and San Francisco, if not ahead of them.

[af_vet_rr]

Does not surprise me - Dallas has quite a few liberals running around (I think the Sheriff is even a Democrat).

[Monterrosa-24]

Texan Audie Murphy knew all about guns BEFORE he joined the Army. So did Alvin C. York. So the most decorated soldiers of WWI AND WWII just happened to learn shooting as mere children.

Add George Mabry II the Medal of Honor recepient who learned shooting as a boy in South Carolina and had an incredible career involving D-Day, the Bulge, and so much more.

The most famous sniper of Vietnam was Carlos Hathcock who grew up shooting in Arkansas.

My wife learned to disassemble an AK-47 in the sixth grade and during her USSR 8th grade class did the same but against the clock.

But these Dallas zip wads think that America would be better is Murphy, York, Mabry, Hathcock, and so many more had grown up without guns. Sheesh!

[af_vet_rr]

Dallas is filled with metrosexual pantywaists. It no more belongs in Texas than Austin does.

At least Austin isn't going after toy guns like this.

Unfortunately, Austin is following in the footsteps of North Texas' love affair with traffic cameras all over the place.

[Niteranger68]

To think when I was a kid we had bb gun and an archery set (pointy metal-tipped arrows) and cap guns etc. Not to mention matches that would strike on just about anything...

Yea, back when kids had parents.

[P8riot]

I don't let my sone play with toy guns anyway. He's learning to use the real thing.

[Sam Cree]

Yeah, liberals are everywhere these days, even the red states. A real shame.

[unixfox]

Not to be provocative, but Texas is turning into a nanny state. This is weird.

It's all about money, they just can't seem to grab enough money from whatever means. It's getting ridiculous, we have smoker patrols, toy gun patrols, and people getting stopped for going 1 mile over the speed limit.

They aren't worried about stopping ILLEGALS and REAL crime. They are only interested in stuffing their coffers.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I don't endorse legislation regulating toy guns, but I do believe they are an abomination. The habits kids pick up from playing with toy guns are likely to be very hard to break, and very dangerous, when they start using real guns. By age 5, nearly all kids can handle a .22 revolver with close supervision, and IMO that's about when parents should start teaching them. Skip the toy guns, and introduce the real ones very early.

[dfwgator]

"You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

[cbkaty]

They aren't worried about stopping ILLEGALS and REAL crime.

.....that could prove to be dangerous...besides ticketing smokers is profitable.....

[sandlady]

"I feel safer already"

No doubt they're trying to protect the police officers who might shoot the person aiming a toy gun....

[Xenalyte]

Ordinarily I'd point and laugh, but Houston's getting those, and will start issuing fines (not tickets, of course) September 1.

Deep sigh.

[Xenalyte]

What you said. Hear, hear!

[TC Rider]

The committee directed City Attorney Tom Perkins to craft an ordinance that would ban all toy guns except those painted a bright color, such as hot pink or neon green, or made of transparent or translucent material.

Just waiting for the other shoe to drop on this one.

There are customizers out there who can coat a gun with a baked on finish in just about any color under the sun. Just this past weekend I saw red, pink and green slides on glocks at a local IDPA match.

Once they decide to color the toy guns, they'll be insisting the real guns stay the evil black color.