Kokua Line: Are pepper ball launchers legal?

Question: Are pepper ball launchers legal for adults in Honolulu to own and carry outside of one’s home? The launchers are similar to a paintball gun except it shoots a ball filled with pepper spray or even a solid ball.

Answer: It depends on the device, the ammunition and the user.

“Current laws do not specifically address devices such as pepper ball launchers. While devices that use CO2 cartridges would not be considered a firearm as defined in HRS Section 134-1, they may be considered an air gun or a replica gun under ROH Chapter 41, Articles 10 and 11. HPD advises the public to use caution when purchasing and using the devices and projectiles and to become familiar with the laws regarding the prohibition, use, and storage of air and replica guns. Based on online product descriptions, projectiles containing oleoresin capsicum (OC) and a combination of OC and chlorobenzalmalononitrile (CS) would be prohibited under ROH Chapter 41, Article 12, Obnoxious Substances,” Michelle Yu, a spokesperson for the Honolulu Police Department, said in an email.

OC, the oily extract of pepper plants, is an active ingredient in pepper spray, while CS is a common type of tear gas, according to Chemical & Engineering News. CO2 cartridges filled with pressurized carbon dioxide are used to power some pepper ball guns, according to product descriptions.

Pepper ball guns are marketed as nonlethal weapons. Getting hit with a projectile fired by one can be painful, even before the ammunition emits an irritant in liquid or powder form that makes it hard to breathe, induces coughing and makes the target’s eyes water and nose run, according to fastcompany.com. Ill effects can last 20 to 90 minutes, even after the target exits the scene and washes off the irritant, it said.

As for the laws Yu cited, Hawaii Revised Statutes 134-1 defines firearm “as any weapon, for which the operating force is an explosive, including but not limited to pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, automatic firearms, noxious gas projectors, mortars, bombs, and cannon.”

The Revised Ordinances of Honolulu that she cited say:

>> ROH Chapter 41, Article 10: Air guns are designed “to expel a pellet or BB shot by the action of compressed air or gas, or by the action of a spring or elastic, but does not include any firearm.” Adults can keep air guns in their homes and use them on private property under safe conditions, but they cannot carry air guns in public unless the weapons are unloaded and in a suitable case or wrapped securely, with a few exceptions, such as for certain parades.

>> ROH Chapter 41, Article 11: Replica guns are any toy or object “which bears such a resemblance to an actual firearm that a reasonable person would have difficulty visually distinguishing it from an actual firearm, and which lacks any feature or aspect which would serve as a signal to allow a person to readily distinguish the replica gun from an actual firearm by sight.” Replica guns are prohibited in public except when in a suitable case or securely wrapped, with a few exceptions, such as for certain parades.

>> ROH Chapter 41, Article 12: Prohibits the general public from possessing, using or selling “any shell, cartridge, bomb, gun, or other device capable of emitting chlora cetophenone (CN), o-chlorobenzalmalononitrile (CS) or any derivatives thereof in any form” or “oleoresin capsicum or any derivative thereof used to repel animals.” Private security agencies and other authorized organizations may seek exemptions to this prohibition, which does not apply to police. Moreover, this section does not apply to pepper spray as defined in ROH Chapter 41, Article 27, which allows adults to carry a small aerosol container or similar device that emits “oleoresin capsicum (OC), or any derivative thereof, in a vapor or liquid form.” The vapor or liquid cannot contain chloroacetaphenone (CN) or ortho­chlorobenzalmalononitrile (CS), the law says, which are forms of tear gas.

Read more at honolulu.gov/ocs/roh.

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.