Alpharetta council approves plan to regulate air guns

ALPHARETTA - A proposal to prohibit unsupervised use of air guns was approved Monday night by the Alpharetta City Council. <br> <br> Councilman Jim Matoney&#39;s proposal, approved 4-3 Monday night, makes it a crime for anyone under 18 to have fully assembled BB guns, paintball guns and similar devices outside of a licensed range. They may be used only with adult supervision. <br> <br> Councilman Doug DeRito had called the push for the new law is misguided. There have been only 15 incidents involving air guns reported to police over the past two years, and none resulted in injury or serious property damage. <br> <br> ``I totally believe he&#39;s doing it with good intentions,&#39;&#39; DeRito said, referring to Matoney. ``But we don&#39;t have a public safety crisis right now.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> ``It&#39;s all about control,&#39;&#39; said parent Rich Whalen, who gave his 13-year-old son a BB gun for Christmas. ``They should be dealing with the people who are causing the problem, but they don&#39;t want to do that.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Supporters of the proposal, including Mayor Chuck Martin, said the time to squelch problems is before they become serious. <br> <br> ``Do we have to wait until somebody gets hurt?&#39;&#39; Martin asked. ``To me, it&#39;s an unsafe situation.&#39;&#39;