Ryan: 1
Ghost: 0

A BB gun, a firearm? Only in NJ. What was basically a stupid prank of youth, NJ will now turn him into a felon. NJ is one of the few states in the union that has a fear of anything resembling a gun.

Anyone who brings a gun on school ground (whatever kind of gun any time of year) deserves to be punished. This boy is heading down the wrong path and lucky this story ends this way because there could have been much worse outcomes!

no one wants to break the law. that being said, i didn't know a bb gun was a firearm. I'm in my fifty's and was raised in the countryside of PA., so my perspective is different. knowing that there is not a'lot of education about these laws, hopefully there will be some leniency and more education. if these are different times, then the kids, the parents and the retailers need to be informed , so that kids don't pay the price needlessly.

The fifteen year old broke the law and should be severly punished but not under NJ gun laws. I really think that NJ gun laws are the worst in the nation. Not even lawyers are in agreement in what they mean but they do classify even the Red Ryder BB gun as a firearm. Thirty years ago 10 year olds shot at each other with them in the woods and no adult supervision. Now NJ treats them the same as an elephant gun. There has never been any legislative effort to clarify and rationalize the gun laws instead legislators just keep making them more confusing and harsher.

I agree Mr. Goldstein. I had a blast as a kid with a BB gun. This kid was doing what I did but not on school property or towards any buildings. Take the toy away from him, and fine him. Anymore than that, then you are seriously effecting this young mans future potential by levying a weapon charge against him.

He was 15 people. A high school teenager that knew what he was doing was wrong. He should get punished in some way. Some intervention not just a slap on the wrist. My neighbor decided to ping my new door and windows with his BB gun. Do you know there have been people hurt by kids shooting through residential neighborhoods (windows) and accidentally hitting other people in their homes. When someone accidentally hits one of your kids because they thought it would be fun to shoot out your windows tell us how you feel then.
I don't want to see them in jail, but some community service and pretrial intervention to scare them so they think next time. A fine is something mom and dad will take care of and the 15 year old will never even feel. So it is too easy to go out and do again.

The child is a friend of mine and this is stupid because he was shooting at some cans a bottles just playing around and our uptight principal made a huge deal over a tiny occurance he had no harm intended and hes being treated like some lowlife scumbag with a gun and bad intentions... Totally false

Not to mention it was only a tiny bb handgun and he is new to this town and where hes from this really isnt a crime their basically just toys

He deserves to get it taken away and have minimum punishment maybe just a warning because its rediculous if you actually saw the charges this kid has at 15 for a toy this is rediculous n it could potentially ruin his life hes being treated like a dirty criminal at 15 years old!

There goes the overzealous Point Pleasant Police Department at their best. Great job guys, you got a couple of 14year old boys, im going to send letters of recommendation!!!!

To John Lantiman: No one "got a couple of 14 year old boys." They were not taken into custody or charged and story does not say they were. A 15-year-old firing at windows is the only one who was charged, as per state law. I'm confused by your characterization of the police as "overzealous." Shall we have the police ignore state law and allow this boy and others to fire BB guns around town? What if next time it is a human being and not a window that is damaged and the shooter is charged? Would that still be an example of "overzealous" police work? What if that victim was someone you care about or you?

To Denise: This is not a "If" or "were" case. Fortunately we live in a world that is based on the present and not the future. This is a simply story of a couple of kids that are immature and did not realize that this could be taken seriously and that life is not a big playground. If your confused about the "Overzealous" comment, maybe you should do a little light reading about the Point Pleasant Police Department and their array of overzealous police work, in this case this child is charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, unlawful possession of a handgun on school grounds and criminal mischief. I guess that's not over the top or anything.... Now granted.. there should be action taken here and this kid should be taught a valuable lesson, but charging him with Unlawful possession of a handgun so that the prosecutor can "Drop" it the charge "The police really wanted" is Unlawful and not morally right. I guess Denise never did anything wrong/stupid in her life, jeze you must be such a saint! There's many things people do wrong everyday, but there is no need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. In conclusion, this story is common sense, bunch of kids up to no good and need to learn a lesson, but putting a few felonies of the back of their parents and the child is just not right. The Family is the one who is really going to pay for this.

The police are responsible for carrying out state laws, they are not the ones who write them. It sounds like you have a problem with certain laws being on the books. You would need to take that up with state legislators and the governor.

Parents and the public in general need to realize that there is consequences for certain behavior. (Age Appropriate Consequences) Procedures need to be followed to the law regardless who they are or what others think the punishment should be including myself. I would think at this age, the boys would or should know better, but maybe some don't. It is a hard call, it depends on the kid in general. I know it is hard, we have to stop making excuses for our kids. We need to be responsible , have them own up to their actions. It is called being accountable. If we continue to overlook what they are doing now at this age, what are they going to be doing by the age of18 or 19? Drinking and driving, robbing people (especially elderly helpless people) @John, Really? You are attacking the writer of this article...that she never did anything wrong/stupid? You are indicating that she must have been a saint. Maybe she just took responsibility for her own actions and knew better. Maybe something her parents taught her and she LISTENED. Maybe she truly knew the meaning and difference of what is right from wrong? You want to blame her for now.

Im not blaming her at all, If she want's to voice her opinion on my comment that's fine. Im saying that i don't think a 14 or 15 year old boy should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law on something like this, Most people just don't understand that this is not very economical..... Why waste the resources on a immature kid that clearly wasn't thinking and is too young to understand the seriousness of the crime. On top of it, It isn't the kid who is really going to pay, it is the taxpayers and parents, Lawyer, Justice department, Probation Department, JJC, whatever you name it. You think if this kid was really such a terrible person that Probation and punishment will really show him?? Not a chance.... not going to do anything except make it worse or waste money. I have nothing else to say.. everyone has their own opinion , but remember if you had a kid and he messed up once... don't put someone threw finical and emotional stress at 14 or 15.

"unlawful possession of a handgun, unlawful possession of a handgun on school grounds" Send him to quatomino bay... he sounds like a terrorist .... trumped up garbage!

Mr. Lantiman,
Must say, I am getting a little sick of your uninformed rubbish. Do you realize that a summer program for Special Needs students takes place at the Middle School over the summer? These students may have still been in the building while this was taking place! I wouldn't consider this a harmless prank if one of those children were hit by shattered glass or a BB pellet. Think before you write!