Amend sweeping ban on toy guns

Chief Public Defender Masood Karimipour has recommended that a proposed measure which seeks a sweeping a ban on the sale of toy guns in the market be limited only to those items that can be legitimately mistaken for a real gun.

While he shares the belief that selling of toy guns should be regulated to ensure the safety of residents and police officers, Mr. Karimipour said the current definition is quite broad, making it a crime to possess all toys which resemble a real gun.

“The bill’s reference to the toy’s size shape, or overall appearance resembling a real handgun or rifle is so broad that it bans many toys which are clearly children’s toys and water guns,” said Mr. Karimipour in a letter to Rep. Dino Jones, chair of the Judiciary and Government Operations Committee.

House Bill 12-076 or the Toy Gun Control Act of 2000 aims to eliminate any possible intended misuse of such toy guns for criminal purposes such as armed burglary and criminal assault that may result to death or injury from self-defense action by the police or any individual.

“Unless it is the legislature’s intent to ban any and all toy guns which all children seek and play with for amusement with parental consent, then the current definition needs to be narrowed. Otherwise, the bill would make criminals out of those children, their parents and the retailers selling any toy gun,” said Mr. Karimipour.

With the proposed bill, no retailer would offer any toy guns at all for fear of criminal prosecution, he added. In modifying the proposed measure, Mr. Karimipour recommended the adoption of similar requirement in other states such as New York, which mandated that all toy guns must be neon colored like orange, bright green or red that it would not be mistaken for a real gun.

The proposed measure came on the heels of complaints from residents who have expressed alarm over the proliferation of toy guns on the island which become popular among children.

This has drawn strong concerns from the Legislature, saying that toy guns which are virtually indistinguishable from their real counterparts are being sold in the CNMI for the enjoyment of children.

“However, the intended use of such toy guns may be mistaken by even police officers for a real handgun. The size, markings, shape and overall appearance of such guns are almost alike making it quite difficult to distinguish between a real handgun and a toy gun,” the bill said.

Rep. Malua T. Peter has sponsored the measure to make selling and importation of the toy guns a criminal offense in the CNMI punishable up to one year imprisonment or $100 to $1,000 fine.

Again, the proposed penalty should be consistent with the other criminal penalties. Mr. Karimipour said the jail term should reflect the level of the fine which is $100 fine or not more than 30 days jail, or both.

“After all, if a person uses a toy gun in the commission of an actual crime, that crime carries with it its own already severe penalties,” he said.

In implementing the law, there should be a time period in which parents and children and retailers should be allowed to dispose of the offending toy guns they currently own.

Mr. Karimipour suggested a six-month phase-in period, concurrent with an aggressive education campaign by the Department of Public Safety, Public School System and the Saipan Chamber of Commerce through toy retailers in the CNMI. He said retailers should be required to dispose of their current stock in lawful markets and recipients outside of the Commonwealth.

“To put the law into effect without a proper grace period would immediately criminalize a whole group of innocent parents, children and retailers for possession of items which they obtained legally,” he added.