Or, "you can't ban spuds!"
Jeff
Bucks County Courier Times
Crude gun is a hot potato
After a Bensalem High School student was seriously injured with a potato gun, police want parents to be on the lookout for homemade weapons.
By GEORGE MATTAR
Courier Times
E-mail
A Bensalem High School student who accidentally shot himself last week while cleaning a homemade potato gun could lose an eye and also may have suffered a brain injury, according to township police.
A MedEvac helicopter transported Dan Effing to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was in an intermediate-care room yesterday, said a hospital spokeswoman. His condition was not available.
Bensalem police Officer Val Ridge, the resource officer at the high school, said Effing may lose an eye and has possible brain stem damage from the force of the potato that slammed into his face on Friday.
Effing, of Park Avenue, was apparently cleaning the weapon when it went off.
Police are urging parents to look for these homemade weapons. They are simply made but can kill you, according to an area resident who has used one for five years.
"They're easy to make. It will shoot 100 yards. I've had one for five years, and I've seen a potato go through a garage door,'' said Bob, who declined to give his last name. "They're a lot of fun, but I never fire mine near people, only out in the country for recreation. You can get hurt.''
A detailed description of the potato gun is being withheld for safety reasons.
"They are not manufactured," Middletown police Sgt. Ken Mellus said. "They don't use gunpowder, so they are not classified as a rifle. We hear of them from time to time, but no one has ever been hurt by one, at least that we know of.
"They are dangerous.''
"Parents should not allow kids to have these things. Look what happened in Bensalem, and this was an accident,'' he said.
Tullytown police Chief Pat Priore said his officers seized one awhile ago.
"I was in a training class and got a demonstration of a potato gun,'' he said. "They are nasty and will take your head off. They are very dangerous. I would highly advise parents to not let their kids have these things.''
In fact, these weapons are illegal in the hands of juveniles, police said.
In the spring of 1998, Tullytown police Officer Dan Doyle got a complaint from the state Game Commission that several youths were firing a potato gun near Levittown Lake.
"There were numerous people around, and these kids were shooting it off in an unsafe manner. Officer Doyle seized it, and we are allowed under law to take these guns from juveniles,'' Tullytown Officer Kevin Bushnell said yesterday.
Thursday, September 23, 1999
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Jeff
Bucks County Courier Times
Crude gun is a hot potato
After a Bensalem High School student was seriously injured with a potato gun, police want parents to be on the lookout for homemade weapons.
By GEORGE MATTAR
Courier Times
A Bensalem High School student who accidentally shot himself last week while cleaning a homemade potato gun could lose an eye and also may have suffered a brain injury, according to township police.
A MedEvac helicopter transported Dan Effing to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was in an intermediate-care room yesterday, said a hospital spokeswoman. His condition was not available.
Bensalem police Officer Val Ridge, the resource officer at the high school, said Effing may lose an eye and has possible brain stem damage from the force of the potato that slammed into his face on Friday.
Effing, of Park Avenue, was apparently cleaning the weapon when it went off.
Police are urging parents to look for these homemade weapons. They are simply made but can kill you, according to an area resident who has used one for five years.
"They're easy to make. It will shoot 100 yards. I've had one for five years, and I've seen a potato go through a garage door,'' said Bob, who declined to give his last name. "They're a lot of fun, but I never fire mine near people, only out in the country for recreation. You can get hurt.''
A detailed description of the potato gun is being withheld for safety reasons.
"They are not manufactured," Middletown police Sgt. Ken Mellus said. "They don't use gunpowder, so they are not classified as a rifle. We hear of them from time to time, but no one has ever been hurt by one, at least that we know of.
"They are dangerous.''
"Parents should not allow kids to have these things. Look what happened in Bensalem, and this was an accident,'' he said.
Tullytown police Chief Pat Priore said his officers seized one awhile ago.
"I was in a training class and got a demonstration of a potato gun,'' he said. "They are nasty and will take your head off. They are very dangerous. I would highly advise parents to not let their kids have these things.''
In fact, these weapons are illegal in the hands of juveniles, police said.
In the spring of 1998, Tullytown police Officer Dan Doyle got a complaint from the state Game Commission that several youths were firing a potato gun near Levittown Lake.
"There were numerous people around, and these kids were shooting it off in an unsafe manner. Officer Doyle seized it, and we are allowed under law to take these guns from juveniles,'' Tullytown Officer Kevin Bushnell said yesterday.
Thursday, September 23, 1999
back to Headlines
Privacy Policy
