Justice Village Board voted 4-1 to table an ordinance that would ban kids from using toy guns anywhere in town. Mayor Kris Wasowicz opposed the measure, calling it “overkill” and threatening to veto it if passed as written.
Trustees Fran Mills, Jeff Allen, Stan Ogorek, and John Obrochta voted to table the ordinance. Trustee Melanie Kuban voted against tabling it. Trustee Gabriel Lopez was absent.
At the May 12 meeting, Wasowicz read the ordinance aloud: “It shall be unlawful for any person at any time to discharge, set off or have possession anywhere in the village, any toy firearm, air rifle, toy cannon or any gun device or bow and arrow that discharges projectiles of any type.”
He added, “Any person violating the provisions shall be fined not less than $200 and not more than $750 for each offense each day it continues.”
Wasowicz questioned the ordinance’s broad scope. “So, if I understand this correctly, a couple of kids playing with water guns in the summer by the swimming pool or playing with Nerf guns, they will be fined?”
“This is overkill, guys. I understand some of the toy guys are replicas … but the way this ordinance reads, anything that discharges anything, a little toy water gun or a Nerf gun, a kid or his parents can be subject to this. I’m sorry, but if vote for it, I will veto it,” Wasowicz said. “The ordinance has to be redone.”
Kuban supported the ordinance, noting it was on the books three years ago. “Children are painting the guns to look like machine guns. They’re painting them black. We have to have something on the books,” she said.
Building Commissioner Ed Shilka agreed: “We’re talking about kids walking around with these.”
Wasowicz disagreed. “This is wrong. This is overkill. If you have boys who want to play with these, are we going to fine them?”
Shilka clarified fines would not apply to kids playing in their yards but “when they bring it to the park.”
“It doesn’t say (that) here,” Wasowicz replied. “It says ‘anywhere in the village.’ That’s what it says.”
Shilka warned the ordinance could prevent dangerous misunderstandings: “When we wind up shooting some young man because he’s brandishing an AR-15 plastic gun and it looks real to a police officer and it’s getting a little dark outside. Then, you’re going to have an issue with that.”
The police department declined to comment on the ordinance, Deputy Police Chief Fred Schuerg said May 16.
After the meeting, Wasowicz said, “Some of those replicas are so good-looking they could be mistaken for a (real) gun,” citing incidents in the news. “But if my kids want to play in the pool with water guns or Nerf guns, it has to be changed. We’re going to discuss it in the committee meeting and come back.”
Kuban said she opposed tabling the ordinance “because we have too many cases where children are taking these guns, they look like AR-15s. …. The parents don’t care. The park district relies on us.”
“These aren’t little kids. These are 14- and 15-year-olds. We’re resurrecting the ordinance we used to have,” Kuban added.
Carrie Bernardoni, president of the Justice Park District Board, was at the meeting. “Open space, public parks are not always monitored so we do have to rely on the village,” she said. “Kids are painting them to look real. The fear is for the kid with the gun and for other people.”
Bernardoni added, “You have older teens, they are full-sized people. They are not little kids. We had a bit of an issue last year. Gel guns we knew were fake. This year, they decided to up the game.”
She noted there was “a recent incident in the park, but they were minors. Summer is just starting.”
In other business, the board approved business licenses for Lakeshore Gaming LLC, a video gaming operator, and Omega Monuments LLC, a monument dealer at 8417 W. 79th Street in Justice.
The board also approved a $100 donation to the Justice Senior Citizens Club.
Wasowicz, Kuban, Ogorek, and Village Clerk David Kroll were sworn in for four-year terms. All ran unopposed in the election. Wasowicz was first elected mayor in 2007.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 27.