Locked & Loaded / Boys challenge toy gun ordinance, get results from mayor, city council
Text 
By Lana Groves
Standard-Examiner Staff
WASHINGTON TERRACE -- Matthew Taylor was using an airsoft gun in front of his house to play with friends in April when a police officer told them to stop using the toys.
"He said that they're illegal within city limits," said Taylor, 14. "We didn't think that was very fair."
Taylor took it into his own hands to find out if it was really illegal and wrote a letter to the mayor.
"We put a lot of money into using our airsoft guns and didn't really want to give them up," he said.
Airsoft guns are realistic-looking toys that fire plastic BBs and are often used in games that simulate combat. The toys range in price from under $20 to more than $300, according to numerous dealer Web sites.
Mayor Mark Allen received Taylor's handwritten letter, called up the Weber County Sheriff's Office and the city and found that both city and county regulations restrict airsoft and other toy guns.
Allen decided to bring the matter to the city council for discussion.
"We thought it was kind of ridiculous," he said. "You can't even have a Super Soaker at a family reunion to hold a water fight."
The city council discussed the current ordinance that covers certain firearms and weapons and decided to alter the language of the ordinance so airsoft guns and other safe toy guns can be used on private property.
"Of course, you can't bring any of those to school, but Nerf guns and Super Soakers don't hurt anyone, usually, unless you shoot someone straight in the eye," Allen said.
Council members are still deciding how much they want the ordinance to allow.
Councilman Matt Thorngrin said members want to make sure they are doing the right thing.
"We want to find out the projective per feet of a propelled weapon to make sure it won't hurt anyone," he said.
"(We also want) to clarify between Nerf guns and something like paintball guns that can leave welts (on someone's body)."
Before finalizing the changes, council members are talking with a toy gun manufacturer to find out how fast certain guns project, Allen said.
The current changes to the ordinance say that a weapon does not include toys like airsoft guns, squirt guns, sling shots and Nerf/rubber guns. The ordinance does say a device is a weapon if it can shoot a projectile faster than a yet-to-be-determined feet per second.
Weber County Sheriff's Lt. Philip Howell patrols Washington Terrace every week and said he thinks making the ordinance more specific is a good thing.
"Laws between BB guns, real guns and pellet guns are sometimes a little ambiguous. Some laws could seem to include something as innocuous as a water pistol," he said.
Police are primarily concerned about guns that fire bullets, pellets and other projectiles, Howell said, but added that the intent of the person using the gun matters as well.
"Some of the guns look dangerous, but aren't," he said. "If police are concerned, they will assess the situation from a distance and approach cautiously if it still isn't clear."
City Manager Mark Christensen said that although the ordinance is changing, it will concern only private property. Pellet and other toy guns will still be banned in parks and other open areas, he said.
"We get complaints (from people) about being hit by marshmallow guns," Christensen said.
Allen said the city also has problems with parks being littered with pellet gun waste, which is why there is a ban on vendors selling pellets at parks during community events.
Christensen said the issue won't be raised again until the first meeting in September.
"We don't want to write in the ordinance 5 feet per second and disqualify every Nerf gun in the world," he said. "Council members have expressed support of the change. We just want to be sure what is safe and what isn't."
Taylor said he didn't think his letter would make a difference.
"I didn't really think a law would change. I just wanted to send (the letter) in and see what they would say," he said.
"We like airsoft guns because we can go outside and get some exercise instead of just being in front of the TV or computer."
Add Your Comment
Repeat after me, (ahem) WASTE OF TIME!!! If you all knew the area in which this all took place then you'd agree that our tax dollars are at waste. The idea of having a county sheriff in a incredulously quiet and safe area, an area where I'd let the pope out of the pope-mobile without a second thought, causes me to go into a state of frustration the likes of which have never been seen before. If you knew the area in which thesse kids wer playing, you would be forced into agreeing with me that it's horrifyingly uneventful in that particular part of Washington Terrace. There isn't even a place where people can speed, so the officer can't even use the excuse of "well I was looking for traffic violators and saw this travesty". The biggest worry you'd have would be if the senior citizens in the old folks home around the corner were to revolt, slaughter the nurses, form a mobility scooter gang, and doing all of these rediculous things before dribbling koolaid down their chins and letting their geritol kick in and go comotose while watching nick-at-nite. If the county is really insistant on keeping the peace in the Terrace, do it where it isn't peaceful. Try the apartments east of Bonnevill High School, west of the Terrace Depot and even perhaps right around where the city offices used to be on 4400 south and 300 east. There is where the worry should be placed. Trust me, this comes from a 14 year Washington Terrace veteran. I know the area. I hope this will help drill sanity into the elected officials of the area and the law will change in a fashion which is logical. That is all.