By Mark Scolforo, The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A student who kept six paintball guns in the trunk of his car violated a state law against possession of a weapon on school property, in part because he used one of the guns to commit vandalism, the state Superior Court has ruled.
The defendant, then 17, and another youth drove away from Central York High School during lunch hour in September 2003 to fire a carbon dioxide-powered paintball gun at three parked vehicles and a garage door, according to court records. Police recovered the guns after the boy’s father consented to a search of his car that night.
The youth, unnamed in court documents, was charged with possessing a weapon on school property; improper use of paintball guns, air rifles and paintball markers; and criminal mischief. He admitted to the acts of vandalism, authorities said.
York Common Pleas Judge John Uhler in January found him delinquent, but the case was appealed to Superior Court to challenge Uhler’s determination that paintball guns are among the weapons prohibited on school grounds.
State courts had previously ruled that gas-powered BB guns should be considered weapons, but had not considered the question of paintball guns.
In a decision released Thursday, Superior Court Judge Richard B. Klein wrote that the mere possession of the guns would not have been criminal if one had not been used illegally.
Klein cited an exception to the prohibition of weapons on school property if the weapon is “used in conjunction with a lawful supervised school activity or course or is possessed for other lawful purpose.”
The defendant had used the gun the previous night at a church-sponsored paintball game and intended to participate in another such event after school on the day of the incident.
“While it is a close case, I believe the unlawful use during the lunch hour deprives the defendant of the defense ... that he had the paintball guns for a lawful use,” Klein wrote.
The youth’s lawyer, public defender Scott E. Lineberry, said Friday that without the vandalism, the ruling might have gone the other way.
“How far is the court going to extend that definition of weapon? What about a kid on the archery team? If they have a bow and arrow sitting in the trunk of their car - is that going to constitute a weapon? It’s an open question, I suppose,” Lineberry said.
Klein said the law’s firearms definitions are “all over the lot in different sections of the statutes” and noted that “baseballs and hockey pucks can cause serious bodily injury or even death. So can a pencil if poked in someone’s eye.”
Lawmakers could have made it clear that the penalties for having a firearm on school property also apply to paintball guns, he said.
“The Legislature knew how to spell out nunchuck sticks, and it could have spelled out paintball guns as well,” Klein wrote.