BALL-bearing guns are not toys. You cannot buy one until you are 17.
But the average age of those hurt by them is 13. Some children have even died from their injuries
There is an added danger. These guns are fake but they look real.
From any distance, it is impossible to distinguish between a pistol that fires bullets and one which fires plastic pellets.
This allows criminals to use them on raids - and raises the prospect of armed police shooting an innocent person brandishing a BB gun.
No doubt the police will welcome Anne McIntosh's proposed Bill to control these guns - and so do we.
Updated: 08:47 Monday, May 30, 2005
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