As a general rule, firearms may not be sold to minors. Your parents must agree before you can have a gun, ammunition, or any toy gun that shoots a dangerous or explosive substance. BB guns, air rifles, and pistols may be considered weapons and should be used only under adult supervision.
Check with your local sporting goods store or game and fish department about the laws in your area. If you′re given the chance to take a firearms safety course, sign up—even if you think you′re familiar with weapons. If a friend wants to go hunting or target practicing with you, ask him or her to also take the class.
You′re probably aware of the rules about weapons (like guns and knives) at school. Even if you′re asked to hold a weapon for a friend or store it in your locker, don′t! Under the law, school authorities may search your locker, and if you possess a weapon, even for a brief time, you′re at fault.
In May, 1996, a sixteen-year-old junior in Wichita, Kansas, was expelled for his senior year for having a paintball gun in his car at school. Jeremy was a football player, a yell leader, and a member of the National Honor Society, with a 3.6 grade point average. He had participated in a paintball tournament the night before, and afterward threw the gun in the back of his car. Jeremy′s school, like many others, has a “zero tolerance” policy on weapons at school—whether real or realistic-looking replicas. With guns (and even gun look-alikes), the bottom line is to know the laws in your state, community, and school—and follow them.
