Air guns — an umbrella term which includes BB and pellet guns in both rifle and handgun forms — often are marketed as toys, but they’ve become more dangerous as weapons technology has evolved.

20/20: Kids and Dangerous BB Guns. By ABC News. December 12, 2000, 7:46 PM. Nov. 24 -- Every day Becky Mahoney of New Hope, Pa., leaves her home to spend 12 hours with her 17-year-old son Tucker ...

KDKA-TV Evening Forecast (5/29) 02:54 Young males are "targeting" women in Wilkinsburg with stun guns, air pistols and BB guns, the borough's mayor said on Thursday.

A 10-year-old boy is no longer facing assault charges after Annapolis police said he shot two other juveniles with a BB gun Wednesday afternoon."(On) many levels, this was such a dangerous act.

Jeff Rinaldo, a retired Buffalo police captain and vice president of the Tarian Group, said it’s nearly impossible for a police officer to determine in a split second whether these guns are real.

And while BB guns are illegal in New York City without a license, they’re less regulated across the rest of the state. Advertisement. Article continues below this ad.

The BB guns sold by longtime manufacturer Daisy range in velocities from 275 to 800 feet-per-second, with the slowest guns marketed on their website towards children aged 10 to 12.