March 19, 2008
BB guns tend to be regarded more as a toy than a weapon. But under certain circumstances, they are capable of delivering serious and even life-threatening wounds. Such was the case for a young Mesa Arizona boy who was shot with a BB gun by his brother.

The child was on spring break from his elementary school. Several kids in the house were being watched by a 14-year-old at the time of the accident. The trouble started when the boys got out their fathers BB gun and started playing with it. One brother pointed the gun at his sibling and pulled the trigger, thinking it wasn’t loaded.

The child was shot through the chest, and immediately started coughing up blood. He was rushed to the hospital and placed in intensive care. The BB ended up lodged in his lung. Doctors elected to leave it there, fearing surgery might do more
damage. Thankfully, the boy was expected to recover on his own and be OK.

There is a reason BB guns carry a warning that they could cause serious injury or even death. This is because they do, on a consistent basis, cause serious injury, and they will even kill a
child (or more rarely, an adult) on occasion. Parents should treat them with the same amount of caution for which they would regard a regular firearm.