Dunedin's Muscovy ducks can sleep a little sounder, provided they don't waddle from public property.
City leaders unanimously agreed to outlaw BB gun use in all public parks, places or right-of-way areas (to include roads, highways or streets) within the city on Thursday.
BB guns may still be used on a person's private property or in a city-supervised program.
One commissioner suggested also going to a shooting range for target practice.
The stricter ordinance was after at a neighborhood retention pond in November.
After the November incident, neighbors said they were alarmed at the sight of a gun being aimed at ducks. When deputies were called to the scene, they could not arrest any of the shooters because the ducks were an unprotected, invasive species, and no laws against firing pellet guns existed. ()
A law already on Dunedin's books mades it unlawful for a person to fire a slingshot, bow, sling or “other similar device” within corporate limits, but neither BB guns nor pellet guns — considered compressed-air guns (not firearms) by law enforcement — were not included in the language (Section 50-2).
The using pellet guns, marbles or BB guns from early August to mid-November. A student was also attacked with a BB gun last year.
The Public Safety Committee is made up of citizens, many of whom are former law enforcement officers.
