THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504210223
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Students of Great Bridge Middle School South are talking a lot about toys lately. But they're not playing.
The eighth- and ninth-graders, gearing up for a meeting in May with state Sen. Mark L. Earley, began a letter-writing campaign earlier this year urging retailers to remove look-alike toy guns from their shelves.
They flooded mailboxes at the headquarters of major toy retailers, sending off more than 900 letters, according to Olivia Conley of the school's Parent-Teacher Association.
What began as a class letter-writing assignment took off as a cause when students took their own initiative to spread the word, said teacher Jill Lowe.
The students wrote letters of thanks to Toys ``R'' Us, Bradlees, Kay Bee Toys and Melville Corp., stores that have already either stopped selling the toys or have vowed to do so soon. They urged stores such as Roses, Wal-Mart, K mart and Ames Department Stores to do the same, providing them with statistics that outline the dangers of the toys.
``We have real guns at home, and I have a 3-year-old brother,'' said Brian Asher, Great Bridge Middle School eighth-grader. ``Who's to say that if my brother plays with toy guns, he won't pick up a real gun thinking it's a toy?''
Increased national attention was drawn to the potential dangers of look-alike guns last year, when a 13-year-old boy in New York was fatally shot by a police officer who mistakenly thought the boy was carrying a real gun.
The recent death of a Virginia Beach teen who accidentally shot himself in the head gives emphasis to their cause, the students said. Guns aren't toys. They're not fun or funny if they look real.
``It's so pointless. Manufacturers could just make them colorful or clear colored. Then they wouldn't be mistaken for real guns,'' said eighth-grader Jessica Barnes.
Some of the look-alike guns bear such a striking resemblance to the real thing that some localities across the country have sought to ban their sale.
In 1986, Congress passed a law requiring all manufacturers to put a distinct mark - such as an orange-colored plug - on the end of all realistic toy guns. But the marking can be easily removed or painted over, students said.
According to Richmond's Fraternal Order of Police, ``Look-alike weapons have been a problem for a number of years.'' And in Virginia Beach, police statistics show that 28 percent of 143 weapons confiscated by the city's Fourth Precinct alone between 1992 and 1993, were air pistols. Officials estimate the number of imitation or toy weapons seized citywide to be between 20 and 25 percent of all weapons.
Chesapeake Detective Richard Black said the city had no such statistics, but he estimated that cases involving toy guns in Chesapeake are rare. ``But there are a lot of toy guns out there that look very authentic,'' Black warned.
This year, Sen. Janet Howell's bill to ban the sale of look-alike weapons was narrowly defeated in the General Assembly. Great Bridge Middle School students plan to take the issue up next month with Sen. Earley, who voted against the bill, Lowe said.
When he makes his visit to the school, the students will be armed with statistics, she said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Great Bridge Middle School student Charlie Hammer is one of the
letter writers opposing the sale of look-alike toy guns.
by CNB