PUBLICATION:              National Post

DATE:                          2003.07.16

EDITION:                    National

SECTION:                  Editorials

PAGE:                         A15

SOURCE:                   National Post

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Pellet-gun hysteria

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Nothing prompts public outcry like a crime against a child. Thus did Toronto's media outlets go ballistic over news that a five-year-old visitor to the Molson Indy on Sunday was shot in the eye by a pellet gun fired from a passing car. The victim will likely retain vision in his injured eye, and shows no signs of cognitive impairment. But this good news has done little to calm the more hysterical reactions.

With justice apparently being served -- the two 18-year-olds and one 17-year-old who allegedly committed the shooting spree face various criminal charges -- it seems to us there is little more to this story beyond the coming court proceedings and the boy's recovery. But others, notably the Toronto Star, evidently disagree. Yesterday, the Star suggested it is time to "regulate" pellet guns and the like. "Air pistols and rifles should be every bit as difficult to obtain as other firearms," its editorial pronounced. "That means air-gun owners should be screened, there should be a 28-day waiting period and they should be listed in a national firearms registry."

Would that be the same $1-billion registry that has emerged as the worst boondoggle in recent memory? Apparently so. But no matter, because the consequences of air gun usage apparently warrant extreme measures.

And what are those consequences? According to the Canada Safety Council, which echoes the Star's call, more than 50 Canadian children go to hospital with air gun injuries each year. Deaths: zero.

We have no doubt that each of those injuries is horrific for all concerned. But to put the council's numbers in perspective, consider that almost 10,000 Canadian children were hospitalized due to bicycle injuries over a recent four-year period. Approximately 4,300 visit hospital each year with burns caused by hot liquids. More than 28,500 annually require medical attention for playground injuries. And in the United States, four children were killed in balloon-related incidents in 2001, the last year for which data is available.

On the available evidence, we can only assume the Star and others are equally keen to make Canadians register their bicycles, hot liquids, playgrounds, balloons, and anything else that can do serious damage if improperly used by children. The same goes for items that can be used as weapons -- among them cars, kitchen knives, baseball bats and golf clubs. Each of these items, of course, also fulfills a useful purpose -- just like air guns, which are used by rural residents to ward off crop-eating rodents and other pests.

Rather than feeding the bureaucracy, it would be less costly and more effective to focus on the criminals themselves, and leave it to parents to fulfill their traditional roles by ensuring that their children play safely. In the immediate aftermath of Sunday's shooting, the Star might temporarily find more support than usual for its peculiar vision of an all-encompassing nanny state. But once the incident fades from the front pages, even the government that brought us the $1-billion gun registry should know better.