In the 1983 holiday movie, “A Christmas Story,” all little Ralphie wanted from Santa was a “Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle.”
He’s told repeatedly by his mother, teacher and a mall Santa, “you’ll shoot your eye out.”
Turns out, they may have been onto something. According to a new report, eye injuries from paintball and BB guns are on the rise.
Between 1990 and 2016, an average of 13,486 children were treated annually for injuries related to nonpowder firearms. In total, that's 364,133 kids over the 26-year period of study. More of the injuries occurred among 6-12 year olds, the report in Pediatrics found.
While injuries overall from nonpowder firearms decreased during the study, eye injuries increased 30%.
“Nonpowder firearms have long been marketed to children and teenagers as toys or ‘starter’ firearms and include paintball, airsoft, BB, and pellet guns,” the study notes. “The severity and increasing rate of eye injuries related to nonpowder firearms is especially concerning.”
About 87% of the children treated for injuries were boys. More than 80% of the injuries came from BB guns, followed by pellet guns (15.5%) paintball guns (3%) and airsoft guns (0.6%).
The researchers note that many of the injuries are preventable.
To help prevent injuries, Dr. Gary Smith told CNN he advises parents to supervise a child's use of a BB gun or similar firearms. He also noted than many BB guns are more powerful now than they once were.
"These are really very powerful weapons," he told CNN. "They're much more powerful than they used to be. That's the reason why we're so concerned about them."
It’s also recommended that children wear protective eye gear when using nonpowder firearms.
The researchers also note that these types of firearms are not regulated nationally, but there are laws that vary state to state.
“Although nonpowder firearms are recognized as an important source of pediatric injury, especially to the eyes, their regulation varies from state to state, and no federal regulation exists,” the study reads.
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