Toy Guns? About This Page:

[disneyjessi]

While at the mall today, Gavin and I stopped to play in the kid's area. There was a little boy with the belt, gun holster thing strapped around his waist. He was running all over the place shooting kids and shooting parents. It kind of left me sick to my stomach. In this day and age, I think it's really inappropriate to allow your child to do this. The day care center I was employed at several years ago had a really good policy. NO GUNS AT SCHOOL. If kids wanted to "play" guns at home, that was fine. But it was not allowed at school. The hope was that it would discourage the children from ever bringing a real gun to school when they were older. I was uncomfortable with this angry child running around yelling "bang" at all the babies playing. What's everyone elses take on this?

Jessi

[DebiDebiDebi]

My girls are 21 and 20. My MIL bought them guns to play with when they were little against my and DH's wishes. When we found out, the guns went back to gramma immediately, and even though she was not happy about it, we never saw the guns again. So it was certainly an issue even way back then.

[patty c.]

I grew up in a home where my dad hunted and I was always scared to death of the guns. I vowed that my children would never go hunting or play with guns, which was a fine policy until my DS came along. It didn't matter that he didn't have a play gun -- he'd use a stick, or a ruler or a Barbie doll as a makeshift gun. He also came equipped with a built in "car with screeching brakes" and "explosion" sound effects. No one taught him this. They didn't watch violent TV shows. There's just something with the way boys are wired. I think it makes them want to grow up and buy big trucks also. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Brenda]

At my home daycare my policy is no guns allowed! The boys and some girls who come will as, patty c says use make shift weapons, so I have a rule if I see them doing this that we are ONLY ALLOWED to shoot at a inanimate object, if I observe them aiming at anything that is living we will sit and have a discussion about it!
I personally feel very strongly about guns and not having them. Living in a very rural State, Vermont, their is lots of hunting and most of my children's fathers and some mothers hunt for all seasons, but I try to instill in my daycare kids that life is precious even if it is a deer or human!

[BostonTeaParty]

Originally posted by patty c.:
It didn't matter that he didn't have a play gun -- he'd use a stick, or a ruler or a Barbie doll as a makeshift gun. He also came equipped with a built in "car with screeching brakes" and "explosion" sound effects. No one taught him this.

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Same here Patty. My boys made weapons to play with, out of any object around the house. If they didn't have an object they used their hand to shoot with. I don't have a problem with the kids playing cowboys and indians or soldiers. I've found that if I don't make a big deal out of it they eventually move on to other interests.

My husband and I do pay attention to what our kids are interested in, be it music, movies, books, what's going on at school or current events. And we talk to them about these things all the time and try to put things in perspective. Communication is key.

[McMouse]

It doesn't bother me as much to see kids pretending to play by using their fingers as guns. I have friends with boys like Patty's who just do that as second nature.

Now, buy a toy gun, and let your child "shoot" at people...I have a real problem with that. And this boy was at the mall shooting this gun at other kids? I think that is just plain wrong. It's one thing for kids to engage in imaginative play, quite another to put the gun in his hands and say sure Johnny, you can take your gun to the mall. Especially in this day and age when there is a very real sniper out there with absolutely no regard for human life.

[AKLRULZ]

Originally posted by patty c.:
It didn't matter that he didn't have a play gun -- he'd use a stick, or a ruler or a Barbie doll as a makeshift gun. He also came equipped with a built in "car with screeching brakes" and "explosion" sound effects. No one taught him this. They didn't watch violent TV shows. There's just something with the way boys are wired. I think it makes them want to grow up and buy big trucks also. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">2 of my 3 kiddos are boys and same thing here, Patty, and that old phrase boys will be boys holds true! My personal belief is that playing with guns won't make them grow up to be the Columbine shooter or the DC Sniper. Now, that said, we don't go out of our way to purchase toy guns for the boys, but they do each have a couple - I think each has a laser gun from Star Tours, too - and they are allowed to play with them in our house - but the toy guns do stay here as the boys aren't allowed to take them to their friend's homes or to other places.

[ 10-22-2002, 08:07 AM: Message edited by: Dadtojbj ]

[BostonTeaParty]

Originally posted by Dadtojbj:
My personal belief is that playing with guns won't make them grow up to be the Columbine shooter or the DC Sniper.

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Good point Steve. Violence and/or shooting may have more to do with the environment a child grows up in.

[DVC_Don]

We do not have a gun ban here, but now that I think of it, the only guns are super soakers. But then again, my son has enought "soldiers" to command an infantry regiment.

I grew up being taught how to use a gun. I worked with guns and for years always had a gun on my person. It was a tool. I never "used" it towards another person, but did threaten too use it a few times (in an official capacity). I only have a shotgun now, in storage. Just do not need the tool anymore.

[Ursunique2001]

My son has a few play guns. You know the kind they would have used in the wild wild west movies, silver and shiny. That being said, he knows not to point them at people. He likes to play dress up so sometimes he likes to dress up like a gun slinger and sometimes he dresses like a martial art fighter. I think the important things is to teach your children that real guns kill.

I agree it seems to be a boy thing, but it is up to us to teach them what guns really can do. Evidently this mother just has no clue and that is why she allowed her son to run around the mall with it.

[HiddenMickey]

Once when my son was still pretty little, I had served grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I was busy working at something else in the kitchen when he calls to me to look at something. I turn arounda and what do I see...he had chewed his sandwich into the shape of a gun! Boys! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] -HiddenMickey

[katerkat]

Girls, too... When my sisters and I were little, we would have swordfights ALL the time! And we shot each other with SuperSoakers. And we haven't grown up and killed someone... Although my older sister once dated a fencer...
My husband grew up around REAL guns. In fact, we have his grandfather's 22 rifle in our closet. And I don't have a problem with it, mainly because Bryan doesn't have any ammunition for it. It's more of a antique showpiece than a gun. But Bryan grew up hunting -- one of his HS classes required him to kill and stuff a squirrel. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] (Rural Pennsylvania!) And he, well... I guess he did grow up with bit of a desire to kill people -- he's an Air Force pilot. [img]graemlins/ukid.gif[/img] Though, hopefully, all he will ever fly is patrols and never go to war....

However, I do agree -- I don't think parents should let their children take toy guns to the mall, to daycare, etc...

[DisneyNutMary]

As a kid, I played with the boys and we all had cap guns, we played cops and robbers, and cowboys and indians, etc. Half of us grew up to be cops (not me, I got pregnant right before I was called to jion the academy). We grew up okay even though we had such violent toys.
Oddly enough I refuse to let my kids have guns, or any toy the "shoots" anything besides water. And the only water guns I allow them to have are the ones that in no way resemble real guns.
This is not the same world it was 20 years ago, and I want my kids to respect the power and danger of guns.

[SarahJ]

I remember my brother and I learning to shoot BB Guns at my grandmother's house but we were always told to shoot at inanimate objects. My dad also had a shotgun for duck hunting and we trained hunting dogs so we had training pistols. But we knew they weren't for play and we also knew the consequences of what real guns could do. I mean we saw the dead birds dad brought home, so we knew if it could do that to a bird it could certainly do it to a person.

DH has guns for hunting and they are put away, but we do plan on getting a gun safe this year so that they are even more secure. As for banning toy guns, I don't know. In public and at school I don't think they're appropriate for anyone to play with. I think if you're going to let your child play with toy guns or even make believe guns you have to talk to them often about the danger of guns. And I would never allow them to point it at a person or animal.

[BostonTeaParty]

My sons and their friends all have paintball guns. That is the current "rage" around here. The boys also have BB guns, but aren't allowed to use them without an adult to supervise. They have to wear safety glasses and can only shoot at targets set up for them. I have to admit, I enjoy target shooting too.