Report Cites Hazards of BB-Type Guns

They are often thought of as toys, but BB guns and other such guns are sometimes lethal and injure as many as 21,000 Americans each year, according to a report published today.

The weapons, called nonpowder guns, kill an average of four Americans annually, according to the report in November’s issue of Pediatrics. From 1990 to 2000, there were 39 such deaths -- and 32 of the victims were younger than 15.

Nationally, about 22,000 injuries linked to nonpowder guns were treated in emergency rooms in 2000 -- most in children ages 5 to 14, according to the report by the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Injury, Violence and Prevention.