		Safety Canada Online			Hot Issues			Awards			Campaigns

Home > News > Vol. XLVII No. 4, October 2003

Pellet Gun Shooting a Call for Action

In a July 2003 drive-by shooting, a pellet from an air pistol hit a five year-old Toronto boy in the eye. The pellet broke into four pieces and lodged in the centre of the boy's brain near important blood vessels. Doctors could not completely remove the pellet but believe they have saved his sight.

This senseless shooting is not an isolated case. When a fake gun is used in a robbery, the victim at the end of the barrel is in no position to judge whether it is real or not. Realistic-looking toy guns and replica firearms comprise up to 40 per cent of guns seized by some police departments. SWAT teams have been mobilized to deal with people wielding toy or replica guns, and individuals who threaten to shoot people place themselves at risk of being shot.

Fake guns are also a leading cause of the loss of an eye in children and young adults. Annually, more than 50 children under age 18 require hospital care for air-gun injuries.

The federal Hazardous Products Act bans potentially dangerous toys such as lawn darts, and regulates even plush toys. Yet that Act does not address toy firearms — even though air guns that can fire a pellet at speeds faster than the legal threshold in Canada’s firearms law are on the market. Despite the fact they are inherently dangerous consumer products, anyone can buy an air gun, pellet gun or replica firearm without question at many retail stores.

The Canada Safety Council will request that the Federal Minister of Health bring the manufacture and sale of these products under the authority and purview of the Hazardous Products Act.

October 2003

Air Pistol Shooting
(July 2003)

Safety Canada
(October 2003)

Fake Guns Pose Real Danger (January 2001)