Did you know that many elementary and middle school children are playing war at their school playgrounds with weapons that are made to look like real firearms?  While this is actually against the law, the only place that children can't bring or buy Airsoft, BB or Paintball guns is their school grounds in Washington State.  There is no regulation on the Sale or Use of these weapons by minors or adults.  Children can run or ride bikes down public streets or parks, or even fire these weapons out a car window in Washington.  They can use their allowance to purchase them at Toys R Us or Fred Meyer.  More commonly, they are trading them with friends at school like Pokemon cards.

Playing war with guns that are made to resemble serious assault weapons should not be a game.  This has become an epidemic and who knows how this will affect their judgment when it comes to using real weapons to cause school catastrophes.

According to a 2005 study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 19,675 non-powder gun injuries were treated in United States emergency rooms that year. Of these injuries, 71 percent involved individuals 20 or younger.

Youth playing with these toy guns in public is a growing problem for police nationwide. In Washington state, police from Bremerton to Spokane have made arrests recently for teens bringing guns to school, shooting pedestrians from building rooftops near a day care to firing at a Santa Claus at the mall.   Additionally, these guns have caused children to be shot by police that believed these weapons to be real. 

The conclusions from AAP are as follows:

• Nonpowder guns pose a serious risk of injury, permanent disability, and even death.

• Since the 1980s, the use of high-powered air rifles has been associated with approximately 4 deaths per year.

• The range of muzzle velocities for nonpowder guns overlaps velocities reached by traditional firearms.

• Data suggest that lack of supervision and unstructured use may be risk factors contributing to the incidence of injury from nonpowder guns.

• EPDs can be useful in decreasing, but not fully eliminating, the incidence of ocular injuries associated with paintball use.

• Injuries associated with nonpowder guns should receive prompt medical management similar to the management of firearm-related injuries.

• Nonpowder guns (BB guns, pellet guns, air rifles, paintball guns) are weapons and should never be characterized as toys.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/114/5/1357.full