County Votes To Continue Ban On Firing Bb Guns Law Doesn’t Affect City Regulations, Which Permit Safe Use Of Air Guns

Suburban Spokane residents who want to shoot BB guns at home had better move to the country.

Or into the city of Spokane.

By a 2-1 vote Tuesday, county commissioners decided not to change the law that forbids the use of air guns in areas where firearms can’t be discharged. That no-shooting zone includes most suburban neighborhoods and some semirural areas.

An advisory panel recommended allowing the use of BB guns. They suggested requiring adult supervision if the shooters are younger than 14.

City regulations, which allow the safe use of air guns by anyone, are not affected by Tuesday’s vote.

Firearms cannot be discharged within the city limits. But a gun isn’t a firearm if there’s no explosion to propel the bullet, said assistant city attorney Larry Winner.

Air guns use compressed air - either pumped into the gun or provided by a cartridge - instead of gunpowder to fire a pellet or BB. They have less power and a shorter range than nearly all firearms.

“They cannot penetrate even drywall,” said Jon Powell, who spoke for several gun clubs and shoots BB guns in his basement.

Powell said three Olympic shooters from Spokane started by shooting air guns.

Sheriff John Goldman and Nancy Sattin, head of the county’s animal control department, urged commissioners not to lift the restriction. They predicted an increase in vandalism, animal cruelty and assault if people could legally shoot BB guns.

Laura Utter, 17, also spoke against the change. In 1985, Utter was shot in the head while playing in her back yard.

Doctors did not remove the projectile for fear of causing brain damage, but said it was the size of a BB or pellet. Utter said she would have been paralyzed, blinded or killed had the projectile gone any farther.

Commissioners John Roskelley and Kate McCaslin voted against lifting the restriction.

Roskelley, an avid hunter who lives outside the no-shooting zone, voted last year to lift restrictions on bows and arrows. Unlike air guns, he said Tuesday, archery gear rarely is used by vandals or people who shoot dogs, cats and songbirds.

Roskelley said his Labrador retriever required stitches recently when it was shot with an air gun.

“You said they’re extremely safe,” he said to Powell. “I’d like to see you say that to my dog.”

McCaslin noted that kids and adults can own and shoot air guns. “They just have to discharge them in the appropriate place.”

, DataTimes