Court Opinion

ID: 9878748
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-27 17:37:18.677176+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:47:40.759165
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, J., specially concurring. It is well known to mothers and teachers that “BB guns are dangerous. You’ll shoot your eye out.”1 A BB gun is a gun that relies on either á spring or compressed gas to propel a .177 caliber' (4.5 millimeter) steel sphere out the barrel and downrange to the target.2 The BBs weigh one-third of a gram and have muzzle velocities between 350 and 600 feet per second.3 At these velocities, the relatively dense BB can easily penetrate an eyeball and has been known to penetrate some victims’ skulls producing brain injury or even death.4  This airsoft gun, on the other hand, fired a six millimeter (.243 caliber) plastic projectile “anywhere between 290 and 315 feet per second.” 5 These projectiles are typically less than one-fourth of a gram.6 The lighter weight, lower velocity, and larger size of the airsoft projectiles consequently have much less striking and penetrating power than a BB fired from a BB gun. Other than welts on the skin, the only serious injuries ever reported for airsoft guns are eye injuries. Most of these eye injuries are non-penetrating and usually result in full recovery; however,, penetration with loss of eyesight has occurred.7  The jury was required to determine whether the gun used in this case was a weapon as defined in the Florida Standard Jury Instruction. Dale v. State, 703 So.2d 1045, 1046 n.1 (Fla. 1997). A weapon is defined as “any object that could be used to cause death or inflict serious bodily harm.” Id. at 1047; Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Crim.) 15.1. Defense counsel’s failure to determine that the gun used in this crime was an airsoft gun rather than a BB gun and to present that information to the jury was deficient. Given the significant difference in energy and wounding potential between a BB gun and an airsoft gun, it is likely that the jury would have reached a different result. If counsel had thoroughly investigated the weapon used, he may have been able to effectively bring out these differences through cross-examination and show that the weapon was not being used in a way that would inflict serious bodily harm.  . A Christmas Story (MGM/UA Entertainment Co. 1983).   . Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_ gun (last visited Aug. 2, 2017).   . Id.   . See BB and Pellet Gun-Related Injuries— U.S., June 1992-May 1994, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (December 15, 1995) http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/ mmwrhtml/00039773.htm (sixteen year old sustained a severe midbrain injury after shooting the BB through the roof of his mouth); Boy, 10, dies after his brother accidentally shoots him in the head with a BB gun at close range; Daily Mail Reporter (March 21, 2013, 5:31 PM) http://www.dailymail.co.ult/ news/article-2297127/Boy-10-dies-brother accidentally-shot-head-BB-gun.html (boy dies after being shot from six inches away, above his right ear, which penetrated his skull).   . This was testified to by Josh Wright.   . Wikipedia, https://en.wildpedia.org/wiki/ Airsofi—pellets (last visited August 3, 2017).   . Tarek A. Shazly, MD, & A. K. Al-Hussaini, MD, Pediatric Ocular Injuries From Airsoft Toy Guns, 49 J. of Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus 54, 54-57 (2012) (review of ocular injuries to children from airsoft guns).