CRIMINAL USE OF PELLET GUNS SHOULD CARRY STIFFER PENALTIES

A recent incident involving a man armed with a pellet pistol threatening a man near Cape La Croix apartments points to a need for changes in Missouri statutes dealing with felonious flourishing of a deadly weapon.

As it turned out, no one was hurt in the March 30 incident, but someone easily could have been. And authorities say similar incidents involving pellet guns are occurring with alarming frequency around the country, some resulting in deaths.

With sirens blowing and lights flashing, a number of police officers rushed to the vicinity of the Cape La Croix apartments upon receiving a report that a man was being threatened at gunpoint. They found a 25-year-old man walking hurriedly to a parked car. They saw the man either put something under the front seat or reach into the car for something. The officers drew their guns, pointed them at the man and ordered him man away from the car. A search of the vehicle turned up a pellet pistol beneath the front seat.

Police made an arrest, but because Missouri law requires that a weapon must be readily capable of lethal use, a "flourishing" charge was not brought against him. Pellet and BB guns are not considered under state law to be capable of lethal use.

What if the man had not put the gun into the car and instead had pointed it at or shot at the officers? They would have been forced to shoot the man, although he was armed with a pistol whose projectile wouldn't even pierce the skin at a distance, but could inflict injury at close-up range.

Cape Girardeau Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle, who would like to see the law changed, says it's not uncommon around the country for police officers to shoot people armed with pellet guns, thinking they are holding a real gun. Therein lies the problem: Many pellet pistols look like the real thing and often are used by thieves and drug dealers to threaten people.

Swingle said the most a person can be charged with when flourishing a pellet gun is third-degree assault -- a Class C misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of 15 days in jail and a $300 fine. Flourishing a deadly weapon carries a five-year prison sentence as a Class D felony.

While a pellet gun is not considered capable of lethal use under the law, they certainly can be intimidating in the hands of wrong-minded people, and laws should be available to punish those who would use them in a threatening manner.

We aren't suggesting any zealous regulation of pellet and, or BB guns. Instead, we agree with Swingle's suggestion that the legislature beef up current laws regarding possession of them in criminal situations. That could be done by making a distinction between putting someone in fear of physical injury with threats, and doing the same thing with a pellet gun or other non-lethal weapon, and classifying the latter as a felony offense.

Because so many pellet pistols resemble real guns, a lot of people are using them in ways that are wrong. These people should be punished accordingly.