STAR-BULLETIN / OCTOBER 2002
Ryan Murabayashi levels a pellet gun resembling a firearm at the Power Edge on Waialae Avenue. A new ordinance would restrict public display of such guns.
Council votes to
restrict toy gunsReplicas cannot be shown in
public unless they are sealed
The City Council has approved two bills that ban carrying or displaying air guns and realistic-looking toy guns in public unless they are in a case or securely wrapped.
The bills, approved yesterday, apply to air guns and so-called replica guns that are carried on any street, alley, public road or public property. Supporters of the measures say they are needed because some of the guns look so real that they are mistaken for actual firearms.
"These guns are exact replicas of real guns," police Capt. Marie McCauley told the Council. "We're trying to be careful so that no one gets hurt or shot."
One of the bills also makes it a misdemeanor -- punishable by up to a year in jail or $1,000 fine -- to draw or brandish a replica gun in front of a police officer.
Penalties for carrying or displaying an unconcealed replica gun in public could lead to a petty-misdemeanor charge that carries up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.
"The thing with replica guns is that they are made very well," said Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz, chairman of the Public Safety Committee. "We need to give police the tools they need to protect themselves and the public."
The bills now go to Mayor Jeremy Harris for consideration.
A replica gun is defined in one of the bills as "any toy or other object which bears such a resemblance to an actual firearm that a reasonable person would have difficulty visually distinguishing it from an actual firearm." City ordinances define an air gun as using compressed air or springs to propel BB's or pellets.
McCauley said replica gun manufacturers in the United States usually paint part of their guns orange to distinguish it from a real gun, but kids normally will paint it over to make it look more realistic.
Some Council members raised concern about whether children playing cops-and-robbers with toy guns in the park or someone waving a toy gun unknowingly in front of a plainclothes officer might get in trouble.
"We're not focusing on water guns ... that are obviously toys," McCauley said.
Dela Cruz said that even though people have grown up playing childhood games with toy guns, "I think it's unfortunate but our society has changed. People have used replica guns to intimidate ... and we're trying to stop that illegal activity."
McCauley said police have come upon people in shopping centers and on buses who brandished AR-15 assault rifle replicas that look so much like real weapons that not even police could tell the difference.
An official with the Hawaii Rifle Association said he does not see a problem with the bills, especially the provision forbidding the brandishing of a gun in front of a law enforcement officer.
"It sounds very practical. It's a good way to keep policemen from hurting individuals who are stupid enough to do something like that," said association Secretary Dr. Max Cooper.
An employee at a shop that sells air guns said the bills passed by the Council are "commonsense" legislation and that he does not see it causing a problem for enthusiasts who legitimately use air guns.
"I figure most of these individuals do have enough sense not to do that around a police officer," said the employee, who did not want his name used.
