AGO seeks changes on bill banning entry of toy guns

The Attorney General’s Office has raised potential constitutional challenge on a proposed law that will ban entry into the CNMI and sale of toy guns here, citing deficiencies and questionable provisions in the measure.

HB 12-76, known as the “Toy Gun Control Act,” is under review by the House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations chaired by Rep. Dino M. Jones.

The legislation seeks to remove toy guns from store shelves and ban them here for good in an effort to protect children from harmful effects and prevent their use in criminal activities.

Sponsored by House Health and Welfare Committee chair Rep. Malua T. Peter, it will make selling and importation of these toys a felony crime in the CNMI punishable of up to one year imprisonment, $100 to $1,000 fine or both.

While the concept may seem a good idea, the AGO expressed concern on its implication to constitutional rights of equal protection and due process.

The definition of toy gun in the bill is vague and ambiguous, according to Assistant Attorney General Elliott A. Sattler, which may open the proposal to legal challenge in the court as the concept of due process requires that these terms be clearly defined in any statute imposing criminal penalty.

“It is doubtful that if challenged in court, the bill would withstand a claim that it is vague, ambiguous, constitutionally deficient and therefore unenforceable,” he said in the AGO’s comment to the committee.

Other provisions in the measure also could court serious problems on equal protection issues as the office noted that it would require only the confiscation of toy guns from retailers and allow individuals in possession of them to keep these items.

“This appears to be contradictory,” Mr. Sattler pointed out.

At the same time, he said it is unreasonable and inconsistent to let possession by individuals of their existing toys prior to the enactment of the bill, but they can face penalties for not giving them up to the police for destruction.

“It must also be noted that this required ‘confiscation’ will create substantial economic liability for the CNMI since surrender of these toy guns… would constitute ‘taking’ of private property by the government,” he explained.

The government lawyer added these people and retailers must be paid the fair market value in exchange for turning over the banned toys.

Mr. Sattler also took issue with the penalty provisions, citing the two level of punishment proposed for a person and an “unnatural person.”

The former will face a fine of $100 and one-year jail sentence, while the latter the same prison term but a $1,000 fine. Such provision raises equal protection problems, he said.

The AGO prodded the House committee not to approve the bill in its current draft, but amend it to address the “serious constitutional deficiencies.”

Ms. Peter’s proposal came on the heels of complaints from residents who have expressed alarmed over the proliferation of the toy guns on the island which have become popular among children.

These guns are openly sold in mom-and-pop stores in the absence of any law that prohibits their sale, according to the Saipan representative.