.

http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/cuyahoga/10207638382419320.xml

Cuyahoga County News Cleveland classifies BB guns as firearms 05/07/02 Christopher Quinn and Mark Vosburgh Plain Dealer Reporters BB guns no longer are toys, at least not in Cleveland. City Council adopted a law last night classifying BB and pellet guns as firearms. The law prohibits anyone younger than 18 from owning them and forbids the weapons in public places. Mayor Jane Campbell signed the law during the meeting. Councilman Mike Polensek proposed the law last year after 13-year-old Raymond Bozak was killed in a drive-by shooting. Raymond was picking pears with friends in his Collinwood neighborhood when he was hit by a BB fired from an air rifle. "I don't think any of us could even imagine the damage this type of weapon can do," Polensek said yesterday. "This is no longer a little pea shooter. These kill, and it's proven they kill." Polensek's law applies only in Cleveland, but State Rep. Ed Jerse, a Euclid Democrat, has proposed similar legislation for the entire state. Existing Ohio laws do not classify BB guns as weapons. The pellet that hit Raymond in the back had the same velocity as a bullet from a .38-caliber gun, according to court records. The man who fired it, Andre Beasley, 19, of Euclid, pleaded guilty in March to involuntary manslaughter and endangering children. He was sentenced last month to six years in prison. Beasley fired the shot into a group of children on Nottingham Avenue while riding in the passenger seat of a car. The driver, Dontell Lassiter, 19, was sentenced last month to six months' house arrest, five years' probation and 500 hours of community service. Lassiter, of North Olmsted, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in November. Polensek, who represents Collinwood, said Raymond's death demonstrated the need for a new gun law. His legislation classifies as firearms any gun that is powered by compressed gas or compressed air.