February 1, 2011



(Squirt) Gun Control?!

Why not just outlaw childhood, right after you ban fun? The Hawaiian state House of Representatives is considering a bill to outlaw the sale of toy guns to minors. The proposed bill:

SECTION 1. Chapter 709, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows: "§709- Sale of toy guns to minors prohibited. (1) It shall be unlawful to sell, attempt to sell, or offer for sale a toy gun to a minor under eighteen years of age... ...(2) Any person who violates this section shall be subject to a fine of not more than $2,000, imprisonment of not more than ninety days, or both."

Status is here. Yep, it's current.

via Free Range Kids

UPDATE: Eugene Volokh e-mailed me and commented on Instapundit (thanks for the link, Glenn!):

I wonder whether the suggestion that squirt guns are being "outlawed" -- even if somewhat hyperbolic -- is quite apt. As I read the proposed statute, it simply means that children can't buy the toy guns themselves, but need to have parents (or other adults) to buy them for them. (Do minors even buy a lot of toy guns themselves? I would think most toy gun users don't do much of their own toy-buying.) I'm not sure the law is a good idea, but it seems pretty different from "outlawing." And I think many readers' first impression would be that there really is a ban on squirt guns, and not just a requirement that they be channeled through parents.

I wrote back to Eugene:

No, a 5-year-old probably isn't going to be going to the store by himself, but if a 15-year-old wants to buy herself a squirt gun, I don't think we should be stopping her. (I bought myself a squirt gun when I was a teen -- still have it in my kitchen drawer right here!)

James Taranto emailed Glenn:

"If squirt guns are outlawed, only outlaw squirts will have guns!"

Count me in!

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