Aurora targets fake guns
City outlaws replica weapons and sale of pellet or BB guns
By Rhianna Wisniewski
Special to the Tribune
Published December 21, 2006
Children in Aurora better think twice now before adding a toy gun to their game of cops and robbers.
Amid growing concern for the safety of Aurora's youths, the City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance this week that bans the sale, possession or purchase of replica guns. A second ordinance prohibits the sale of projectile guns, including BB or pellet guns, to minors within city limits.
Police are allowed to confiscate replica guns and levy fines. Previously, police returned guns to their owners. Fines range from $500 to $1,000, depending on the type of gun and how it was being used.
But community activist Mary Fultz doesn't think the actions go far enough because toy guns with orange caps or those obviously fake, such as translucent or brightly colored ones, still are allowed.
To make a point at Tuesday's meeting, Fultz pulled the trigger on a realistic looking, palm-sized toy cap gun. One alderman ducked, another winced and most looked on warily as she held the smoking black gun, which she had a child buy at a local flea market for $1.
She believes all black fake guns should be banned, because she fears that the ordinance as-is will not prevent potential accidental deaths in incidents where police have to make split-second decisions.
"This is not at all what we're asking for," Fultz said. "Kids can easily take the cap off, break them off or spray-paint them. Our problem is that if the gun is all black, it looks real."
Aurora's actions are modeled after an ordinance in Chicago that prohibits the sale and possession of any BB or pellet guns or any other replica that shoots a projectile. But Aurora's new ordinances go further, banning any item, other than those allowed under federal law, which resembles a gun, regardless of whether it shoots projectiles. The federal statute allows toy guns that are translucent, brightly colored or have orange caps.
"This is about the kids and keeping the guns out of kids' hands," said Ald. Stephanie Kifowit (3rd Ward). "This ordinance unequivocally keeps them out of kids' hands."
Fultz, who introduced the issue to the City Council, cited the injury of Ellis Woodland in Chicago as an example of the dangers these guns pose to children. Police say Woodland, a 14-year-old Cabrini-Green resident, was shot and seriously wounded in August after he refused to put down what appeared to be a 9 mm handgun that turned out to be a BB gun. Chicago passed its ordinance in October.
Aurora Police Chief William Powell said Fultz's concern is valid, because officers are trained to shoot in situations where someone with a gun is threatening police or public safety. He also doesn't think the ordinance will rid the city of the replica guns because they're still sold in neighboring cities.
Still, the ordinance sends "a strong message that these guns aren't wanted here," he said. "Anytime we're going to outlaw guns, I'm for it, because I've seen what guns have done to our community."
Powell was the supervising officer on June 25, 1999, when 30-year-old Dennis Young was shot and killed after he aimed what appeared to be a gun at police. The weapon turned out to be a BB gun.
Fultz' son was shot by a real gun while playing basketball, and the offender was never caught. Her son sustained an injury to his leg that has severely limited his ability to play competitive sports.
She first brought the issue to the city's Government Operations Committee in 2005, after a 10-year-old boy took a realistic toy gun to an after-school program she was involved in on Aurora's east side.
Frightened teachers ushered students against walls and into corners and were about to call police when they learned the gun was fake. Fultz, backed by 1,200 community members who signed petitions, has been working with council members since that incident to outlaw replicas.
Alayne Weingartz, Aurora corporate counsel, said the ordinance cannot go further than the federal statute.
Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner said he, too, would like to see all gun replicas banned, but, politically and legally, his hands are tied.
"Personally I would agree with going further," Weisner said. "But as mayor I have to look at what we'd like to do and then look at what we could conceivably defend."
A third ordinance, which was modeled after the penalty portion of Chicago's replica gun ordinance, was sent back to committee Tuesday. It would have levied warnings and potential legal action on parents for their children's violations of gun or drug ordinances.
That ordinance will be discussed on Jan. 9.
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Tighter gun laws
Aurora's new ordinances:
- Ban the sale, possession and purchase of replica guns, except those colored to look fake or those with orange caps.
- Prohibit the sale of projectile guns, including BB or pellet guns, to minors.
- Give police authority to confiscate replica guns.
- Provide for fines from $500 to $1,000, depending on type of gun and how it was used.
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune [/b]
