More Illinois Crap - Aurora Bans Fake Guns - Cites Parents

Sounds more like law enforcement by retards than bad parenting.


Replica gun ban might nail parents
(http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/213729,2_1_AU17_GUNS_S1.article)

January 17, 2007

By ANDRE SALLES Staff Writer

AURORA -- Should parents be held accountable when their children break the recently passed ban on replica guns?

That was the question before the city's Government Operations Committee Tuesday, and, though no conclusion was reached, aldermen and the community activist who asked for the replica gun law faced off over questions of responsibility.

Committee members proposed adding a section to the ban, passed last month, which would allow a judge to order a parent or guardian to pay the fine or perform community service with their charge, provided that charge is under 18. The amendment would be copied from a similar law in Chicago.

Replica guns are defined as ones that reasonable people may confuse with actual firearms. The replicas don't need to fire anything to be illegal, and fines for possessing or selling them range from $500 to $1,000 per offense.

Alderman Rick Lawrence, 4th Ward, argued that parents should be held accountable for the actions of their children.

"In today's society, there's every excuse why people do the wrong thing, but it comes down to the parents," he said. "They're not society's children; they're yours. You have to be responsible for them."

But Mary Fultz, founder of the Community Advocacy Awareness Network, said that parents deserve a warning before they are handed a fine for their child's actions.

"We would have liked to see you not hold parents accountable so quickly," she said. "It's a harsh punishment."

Fultz, who brought the issue of realistic-looking replica guns to the council last year, reiterated her displeasure with the resulting ordinance, which she believes doesn't go far enough -- it provides exceptions for guns with orange plugs or other markings, which Fultz says are easily removable.

Alderman Stephanie Kifowit, 3rd Ward, argued against a mandated warning, saying that should be up to the judge. But she agreed that ordering the parents to serve community service time with their children is a good idea.

"The parent may start thinking that they can't afford to take time off work, and then they might say that the child should be taken care of better," she said.

The committee will continue discussing the issue at its Jan. 30 meeting.