Court Opinion

ID: 4961241
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2021-09-24 15:00:40.529787+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:15:49.794090
License: Public Domain

KLEIN, J.,
concurring:
¶ 1 I concur in the majority’s decision, but write separately to point out my belief that absent the shooting at buildings and unoccupied cars during M.H.M.’s school lunch break, the possession of the paintball gun would have been for a lawful purpose and M.H.M. would have been able to avail himself of the defense in 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 912(c).
¶ 2 Section 912(c) provides that “it shall be a defense that the weapon is possessed and used in conjunction with a lawful supervised school activity or course or is possessed for other lawful purpose.” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 912(c) [emphasis added]. The evidence indicates that M.H.M. used the gun the night before for a properly sponsored paintball game and drove his car to school, planning to participate in another paintball game after school. The testimony was that the games were sponsored by M.H.M.’s church group. Under those circumstances, the only reason the guns were on the school property was because they were in the Defendant’s car awaiting lawful use at his church functions.
¶ 3 However, while it is a close case, I believe the unlawful use during the lunch hour deprives the defendant of the defense under 912(c) that he had the paintball guns for a lawful use.
*1259114 I also write separately to note that the rules of statutory construction and the statutory language of section 912 make for a close case here. It is true that while penal statutes are to be construed strictly, legislative intent must be considered, and words are to be construed according to their common and approved uses. As noted by the cases cited by the majority, “It does mean, however that where an ambiguity exists in the language of the penal statute, such language should be interpreted in the light most favorable to the accused.”
¶ 5 Paintball guns are not the only implements not specifically stated in the statute that can cause serious bodily injury if not properly used. A baseball can cause serious bodily injury, and no catcher would play in a formal game without a mask and chest and shin protectors. No hockey goalie today would face a puck without a mask.5 Baseballs and hockey pucks can cause serious bodily injury or even death. So can a pencil if poked in someone’s eye.
¶ 6 When the legislature wanted to specifically sanction the manner in which a paintball gun is to be handled, it knew how to do it. In 18 Pa.C.SA. § 2707.2, the statute spells out how a paintball gun is to be carried in a vehicle. The legislature does not call it a “weapon” or something that can “cause serous bodily injury.” It calls it a “paintball gun.”
¶ 7 As noted by the majority, definitions of firearms are all over the lot in different sections of the statutes. I do not quarrel with the majority’s conclusion that a paintball gun is an “implement capable of inflicting serious bodily injury[,]” 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 912(a), but this case illustrates the necessity for straightforward and precise statutory language. If we read the statutes to favor the defendant m cases involving ambiguity, there is a strong argument that paintball guns are not subject to criminal sanctions. If the legislature wanted to make it clear that the serious penalties for carrying firearms on school property applied to paintball guns, all it had to do was add the words “paintball guns” to the definition of 18 Pa.C.S.A § 912. The legislature knew how to spell out nunchuck sticks, and it could have spelled out paintball guns as well.

. I must confess that I am old enough to have seen Ivan Wamsley, the goalie for the old Philadelphia Ramblers minor league hockey team, play without a mask in the 1950's. However, since the 1960’s and Terry Saw-chuk and Jacques Plante, goalies have not been so foolish, and all wear masks.