Special Reports

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Just a few hours ago a Naperville high school student was arrested for shooting a BB gun at students from Chrone middle school. Fortunately no one was hurt. Not the same can be said for one Glen Ellyn woman who had a BB pellet pulled out of her heart. That's why there is a growing call to have BB guns and air rifles regulated like handguns. CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini takes a look at whether these are toys or weapons.

They are powerful and can cause fatal injuries.

A pellet was removed from Heather Van Horne's heart.

"I was hooked up to life support," Van Horne said. "This my scar."

She was just a teenager when she was shot by an air rifle at a New Year's Eve party in St. Charles. Van Horne is proof that a pellet gun or BB gun is dangerous.

"It almost killed me," she said.

Van Horne wants pellet guns and BB guns treated the same as other lethal weapons.

"These are deadly weapons. I don't care how you want to look at it. These guns kill," said Dr. Michael Tuchek.

Dr. Tuchek is the surgeon who saved Van Horne's life at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

Dr. Tuchek grew up on a farm using guns, and isn't opposed to people owning air rifles or BB guns. He just wants them regulated the same as other lethal weapons, with background checks and firearm cards.

This CO2-powered hand gun fires pellets nearly 400 feet per second. This rifle with a scope: 1,200 feet per second.

"They can kill somebody just like a 38-caliber or Saturday night special," Dr Tuchek said.

Dr. Tuchek says anything that shoots a projectile can cause serious injury, like an 8-year-old who suffered damage when he was struck by a paintball.

The Valentino brothers have been struck by pellets fired from the increasingly popular Airsoft guns. Vince Valentino, 10, and his 9-year-old brother Jim have sustained welts playing in their Lemont neighborhood.

They say the battles happen in the woods, and they've seen kids get hit in the face. Vince says he was shot in the face with an automatic.

"First time I got shot with that, I was crying for like 10 minutes," Jim said.

We found even Airsoft guns can fire pellets 300 to 700 feet per second.

"It's made 'em bleed," said Vito Valentino, Jim and Vince's father.

When he found out about it, their father says he put an end to their involvement in the neighborhood battles, especially after he learned kids had found a way to increase the velocity of their Airsoft guns.

"They have the CO2 cartridges for the Airsoft guns which makes them five times more powerful than a gun like this," Vito said.

So for now the Valentino boys are only allowed to shoot at paper targets.

So what would Vito's warning be to any other parent out there whose kids want these guns?

"If they don't have them, don't get them for them," Vito said.

And when it comes to the availability of the more powerful BB guns, Heather Van Horne says more regulation can't come too soon.

"I also wonder what it's going to take for people to want to take it more seriously," Van Horne said. "I am not the only one and I won't be the last person."

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission as many as 20,000 injuries have been recorded in a year. And there are typically four deaths a year from high-powered air guns.

We have received numerous tips about kids hurt by the Airsoft guns as well but we could find no central database about the number injuries associated with them.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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