Full of what? Child murder or pellet guns?

Really really poor villages full of Native Alaskans.

Christ... killed by a pellet gun? When I was younger, my friends and I used to shoot each other all the time with high powered air rifles. They'd leave welts, but they rarely even broke the skin - not even with the CO2 powered guns at point blank range.

It may have been a magnum .17, in which case it is almost as big as a .22, but with a higher velocity.

Very capable of killing a person if hit in the right place, and often used to hunt small game.

@3: I guarentee you this cartridge is a far cry from the rounds you were using as a kid, if they hardly broke skin. We are talking about a possibiltiy of 2100ft/s here. This is not a round, nor a rifle a child should be allowed to use without adult supervision.

@3 Really? High-powered now means >1000 fps at the muzzle. That's equal to a .22 LR. The projectile weight is only 1/5 as much, but it will do way more than break the skin.

Cheap, too. Google "crossman phantom." First site I opened had these for $80.

My mistake, it does specify "air gun," so the round likely did not break 1,000 ft/s.

Still deadly, obviously.

@6 Lots of air rifles claim to break 1000 fps. I haven't seen these in action, but chronographs are cheap and tons of people have them, so it would be kinda surprising if the velocity claims were badly inflated. The interwebs would be awash with debunking (which I didn't search for.)

http://www.pyramydair.com/a/Air_guns/Air…

@6: The Crossman Phantom referenced in @5 claims "1,200 feet per second with lead free pellets".

@7: Jesus christ...I had no idea they were making air rifles so powerful these days. Obviously not just for kids and varmint hunters anymore. Cheap too.

Sniper stands, flash guards, hunting scopes...I hope the laws treat these like the dangerous rifles they are. Amazing they can match a .22 for foot pounds with projectile that is so much lighter, but I guess we are creeping towards almost double the velocity.

@1: Thank you. Full of these WHAT?

Yeah, I'm also shocked at how powerful air rifles have become - I really had no idea, as I haven't seen any for years.
That's way too much for kids.

Full of children accidentally killing other children with guns.

Then there is this story out of Florida: armed bikers start a shootout.
http://m.seattlepi.com/spi/db_/contentde…

@9 IANAL, but a quick browse of the law suggests that since I couldn't find anything against the possession of air guns by children, as opposed to firearms
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?…
but discharge of "a firearm, air gun or other weapon" is regulated
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?…
I'm guessing possession (and purchase?) of air guns by minors is legal in WA, but shooting them in the street is not.

If there is an exception for high-powered air guns, I couldn't find it in 10 minutes.

Air guns are not firearms according to the feds.
http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/firearms…

@14- I know someone who was charged with carrying a firearm illegally for having an airgun under their driver's seat in New York. His passenger had a bayonet stuck on his finger when he ran a stop sign, all sort of hilarity ensued.

@15 By the state, the city or by the feds?

From my ATF link: "We caution that ATF is not charged with enforcement or oversight of the firearms laws of States or localities. To determine possible restrictions on air guns where you reside, we recommend that you contact the office of your state Attorney General, the State Police, or other State/local law enforcement authorities for further guidance."

I'll bet NY state and/or city have way more restrictive air gun laws than the feds or WA, but I'm not going to spend more time looking it up.

You basically cannot buy anything gun shaped in NYC or have it shipped to NYC. I have a legitimate need for non-gun props that look, and can even sound like, guns and I have to have them shipped outside the state and then bring them in. That includes all "Airsoft" style pellet guns, starter pistols, blank firing non-guns, etc.

It's a pain in the ass.

It's illegal in NYC to have something that's not a firearm but which has an appearance that "Substantially Duplicates" the appearance of one. Even if the air gun itself isn't covered, they could hit you with that.

A pellet gun can easily penetrate more than an inch into your flesh, and it is not unreasonable that anyone struck in the wrong place could die (e.g. being hit in the throat or lung).

My sister was shot from the side by a boy (when they were both 13 yo) with a pellet gun. This was from a distance of about 100 feet and it hit her on the outside of the upper arm. The pellet was removed from the inside of her arm, as it was closer to the skin there.

I had no idea air guns had gotten so powerful. I've been shot with pellet guns more than a few times when I was a kid (pretty common in rural areas) and they stung but rarely broke skin.

Hunted squirrels in the city park with a Daisy Powerline .17about 40 years ago...