You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out - Not in Bridgeport

(Photo: Basspro)

The BB Nazi’s have too much time on their hands. They are making sure that you check over your list and check it twice.

You’ll shoot your eye out.

The familiar warning about BB guns, popularized in the movie “A Christmas Story,” is likely to provoke shrugs and eye-rolling indignation from youngsters intent on acquiring their first firearm.

But it’s a warning worth repeating, authorities say, following a spate of shootings and vandalism in Bridgeport and the surrounding area caused by BB and paintball guns.

Take, for instance, what happened to a 16-year-old in Bridgeport on Oct. 27: His 15-year-old friend was playing with a BB gun when it fired and lodged a pellet in his eye, permanently damaging the boy’s eyesight.

While that incident — the most serious BB gun injury in Bridgeport in years — is under investigation, police say it’s about time adults were warned against buying air-powered guns, which shoot BBs or paintballs, for youngsters.

“We’re having an influx of incidents involving BB guns,” said Bridgeport Police Sgt. Jesus Ortiz, director of the department’s Youth Bureau. “They can inflict injury and pain.”

He added, “The alarming thing is the BB guns are being supplied by the parents.”

Ortiz had a simple warning for parents: Do not get these guns for teenagers.

Don’t worry. If they see you they can charge you… seize the guns and destroy them.

A Stratford ordinance almost entirely bans BB and pellet guns, but not paintball guns, police in that town said.

Police can use discretion on whether to charge a BB gun carrier with a local ordinance violation or a criminal misdemeanor, possession of a facsimile firearm.

Bridgeport police seize the guns when they see them, and destroy them after the case is resolved in court.

But with some BB guns selling for upward of $200 and paintball guns for $300, education seems to be the cheaper route for well-meaning parents, officials said.

No real outcry. Just wait until the paintball guns are next. Wonder how they will paint that picture. This is a clear violation of the 2nd Amendment.

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