Dem Rep Wants To Make Ralphie Get Background Check For His Red Ryder BB Gun

Ralphie’s quest for a Red Ryder BB gun in the 1983 film “A Christmas Story” would involve a federal background check if a Democratic congressman’s bill is passed into law.

Air guns would be considered as firearms under HR 10583, also known as “Garrett’s Law,” introduced Thursday by Democratic California Rep. Kevin Mullin. The legislation, which Mullin said was endorsed by Giffords and March For Our Lives, would label certain air guns as “lethal” and designate them as “firearms” under the provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968, adding restrictions for purchasing them.

“It makes no sense that someone prohibited by law from purchasing a firearm can still walk into a store or go online and legally obtain an air gun capable of killing,” Mullin said in a Friday release touting the bill.

In the 1983 film, Ralphie, a nine-year-old boy played by Peter Billingsley, was on a quest to get a “Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle” with a compass and sundial on the stock, despite being discouraged by many adults, including his teacher and a department-store Santa who warned him that he’d “put his eye out.”

Current models of the Red Ryder 1938 BB gun, considered comparable to the one Ralphie sought in “A Christmas Story,” hold up to 650 .177-caliber BBs, according to the Daisy website.

Firearms covered by the Gun Control Act of 1968 were subjected to restrictions regarding the manner of sale, whether they can be sold across state lines, whether they can be sold online and the requirement for a background check. Many states have additional requirements, with some requiring licensing or a permit-to-purchase to own firearms.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 also limits sales to those who are 18 or older and requires the sales to be conducted by federal firearms license (FFL) holders.