THE shooting death of a 13-year-old has sparked renewed concern about the hazards of pellet guns and whether they should be controlled by federal gun laws.
Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, said people underestimate the severe injuries air guns can cause and pointed to a 2005 Canadian Pediatric Society report, Youth and Firearms, which calls for air rifles to be regulated by federal law.
The report cited 11 deaths from pellet guns, including 10 deaths that were caused after a person was shot in the eye or temple by a pellet gun.
Nine of the 11 deaths were youths between the ages of three and 17.
Most pellet guns are not regulated by federal gun-control laws, Cukier said, despite medical research that proves they can cause significant eye injuries and, in some cases, death.
"There's no question that pellet guns and air guns do present risk to kids," Cukier said.
On Saturday, police confirmed the boy was shot and killed by a pellet gun.
Police allege the boy and a 17-year-old youth broke into a garage in the rear of a residence in the 300 block of Home Street Feb. 23 and stole a pellet rifle.
Police said the rifle fired while the two youths were passing the gun between them, striking the boy "above the shoulders," and causing serious injury.
The 17-year-old allegedly fled the area, leaving him bleeding in a snowy back lane, where police found him after a neighbour called 911.
A youth has since been arrested and charged with criminal negligence causing death and break and enter.
Canada only regulates firearms that fire bullets at a speed of 152 metres per second. Out of 27 air guns sold online by a Winnipeg sporting goods store, only four require a licence.
Despite their relative accessibility, Dr. Charles Littman, a University of Manitoba professor and forensic pathologist, said air guns can do just as much damage as handguns.
While air guns don't contain any gunpowder, Littman said they use compressed air to fire pellets at a similar speed that handguns fire bullets.
He said most pellet-gun fatalities occur when a pellet strikes the temple or lodges in the brain through a shot in the eye.
Even if a pellet wound isn't fatal, Littman said, it carries a high risk of infection.
A normal handgun emits heat with gunpowder when a bullet is fired, which Littman said sterilizes the bullet. By comparison, a pellet that lodges behind the eye is ripe for infection over time if it can't be removed.
Part of the problem, Littman said, is many people don't realize how much harm pellet guns can cause at close range. He said pellet guns, and other uncontrolled weapons, like slingshots, all carry potential for severe injury.
He said all parents should be aware of the dangers of buying a BB gun or pellet gun for their child.
"They've got to realize that obviously if you can shoot a squirrel and cause damage to that squirrel, you can do the same thing to another human being," Littman said.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
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