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Dallas isn't playing around with toy gun law 1:29 PM CDT
01:28 PM CDT on Monday, May 7, 2007
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
dlevinthal@dallasnews.com
You can still pack your Colt .45 or Smith & Wesson.
But the Dallas City Council is poised to restrict the sale and possession of replica firearms, as the body’s Public Safety Committee unanimously voted Monday afternoon to support an anti-toy gun ordinance.
The ordinance proposal is now scheduled to go before the full City Council on May 23.
As conceived, the proposed ordinance will prohibit:
- Displaying or brandishing a replica firearm in a public place
- Removing or obscuring the federally required orange tip on a toy gun
- Selling replica firearms from ice cream trucks
- Selling or possessing any replica firearm with a laser pointer attached
Violators could be punished with a Class C misdemeanor and a fine of up to $500, City Attorney Tom Perkins said.
But the proposed ordinance is notably weaker than a law some council members advocated last year.
The current ordinance proposal, for example, does not include two strict provisions council members had previously considered, most notably, prohibiting the sale or possession of any toy gun unless its exterior was colored white, bright orange, yellow, green, pink or purple, or if the exterior was transparent or translucent.
The proposal also does not include a provision prohibiting minors from possessing a toy gun that shoots any sort of projectile, regardless of whether it’s a foam ball or a BB.
In August, the council voted 7-1 to pursue banning all toy guns except those that fell under the exemption for color, transparency or translucency. But council members, some concerned about potential legal challenges to such a law, directed city staff in October to further study the issue.
As it is, the current ordinance proposal “will be a tool that allows up to enforce appropriate situation where people are brandishing these guns,� Police Chief David Kunkle said.
Under the ordinance proposal, people may continue to transport replica firearms in Dallas so long as they’re in a case, or otherwise hidden from public view, Mr. Perkins said.