MP Des Turner is writing to the Home Secretary to ask for tougher laws on the sale of BB guns.
The Labour member for Brighton Kemptown is making the plea on behalf of Whitehawk residents who say their lives are plagued by the guns, which can be sold to anyone of any age.
Nine-year-old Levi Pettitt, from the Brighton estate, was shot in the eye with a BB gun which his friend bought at a May Bank Holiday market in Brighton.
It is not illegal to sell or buy the guns, although new laws make it an offence to carry them in a public place.
Families in east Brighton say market traders at Brighton racecourse sold the guns to children, despite market organisers making them sign a contract agreeing not to sell the weapons.
Police and Brighton and Hove trading standards officers visited the market at the end of May and more than 20 BB guns were seized. They cannot stop the sale of the guns but did instigate an agreement. Traders who fail to follow it will be barred.
Dr Turner, who chairs the Whitehawk Crime Prevention Forum, said: "I would be happy to write to the Home Secretary because I can't believe it's a problem limited to Whitehawk."
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