Friday, November 13, 2009

Kids and Guns

No Hypo this week. Sorry. But I do want to get your thoughts on kids and toy guns.

As a parent or potential parent, do you think it's okay to let your kids play with toy guns? If you say no and your child has friends with toy guns, does that bother you? Do you do anything about it? Any specific reason for your answer?

Thanks.

And just so you know, any view is welcome here.

14 comments:

Joel said...

If you can dodge a bullet, you can dodge a ball.

Stephanie Evans said...

Toys guns are ok by me. Grand Theft Auto- not ok.

Rachel said...

I am a fud, but I don't think I would let my kids play with toy guns That will probably change when I actually have kids because I just don't have any idea how to raise them yet.

And I agree with Stephanie, the "shoot em up" video games...NO WAY.

abbyjane said...

toy guns are fine. bb guns are fine. real guns are fine, but the way you use them is the issue.

Rachel and Tyler said...

I stay away from guns that look like violent guns, we have nerf (is that spelled right?) guns, even those I don't let them shoot at each other. I grew up shooting and targets and don't think I am a violent person so I think it is how they are used.

Anthony and Kristie said...

If you don't give a kid a gun he is going to turn anything he can find into a gun like random sticks, forks, golf clubs, fishing poles, fingers. People are to worried now a days what we need to remember is: "Guns don't kill, people kill."

Joel said...

People don't even kill people when the guns are toys.

abbyjane said...

i think it's a possibility a person could kill with a toy gun. don't you guys talk about stuff like that in torts?

also, we don't really know about extreme imaginations turning sticks, or whatever, into guns. we usually end up with magic wands in that scenario.

Douglas Family said...

My mom was always anti-gun. She had valid reasons, but my brothers just made them out of legos instead. Harrison has nerf guns which are safe (they won't shoot your eye out) and fun for kids of all ages. I'm not such a big fan of the noisy versions. Ever considered a light saber? oh, one more thing...I think even with a toy gun it is important to stress gun safety and teach them what to do if they encountered a gun in real life.

Stacey said...

I am a no on the guns... With Eric's job there is no room to even play around with toy guns. That is something that we have talked to our kids about and would say something if I saw them playing.

Stacey said...

Okay an add on to me comment. I think there is a difference between a stick that they play gun or something that is clearly NOT a gun but now days plastic guns look so real. Kids may not have the intention to kill someone but if they don't know the difference between the two who knows what will actually happen. If they don't touch the accidents don't happen. I am around guns all the time and I still can't tell the difference.

Unknown said...

Okay I have always hated toy guns. I think killing people is wrong (obviously) and it doesn't matter if you are pretending or not. I hate violence. I told myself I would NEVER get my kids a toy gun of any kind. One day my sons BEST friend came over and he brought a bunch of toy guns. They were cheap orange and gold ones. DIdn't look real at all. I did everything I could to get them to do something different and no matter how hard I tried he kept bringing them over and ended up leaving some of them at our house. UGH, I explained my frustration and concern to my husband (of course he would agree right?) well he didn't agree. What he said was a different and interesting point of view that I have been somewhat of an open mind to.
His dad is a cop. He had his guns around growing up and my husband said his dad would show him how they worked and how to be safe with them and STRESSED to them the safety and the crucial rules for guns. Guns are apart of the world now, it is better for them to know the safety of them and be educated than not be. Then he went on to say that he had toy guns when he was a kid and that it didn't have any kind of negative effect on him and that its just make believe. The same with swords.
I wasn't sure how I felt about what my husband said and this made me think about this issue alot. I began to notice guns alot more. My kids don't know the difference between a water gun, and toy gun, a super sonic gun a nerf gun. They are JUST TOYS to them. If you are teaching the right principles in your home, if your kids know that killing (even though my kids don't really comprehend that yet) is wrong and violence is not acceptable having a toy gun in your home isn't a big deal. I have just been extra careful about the type and style that I have gotten. We have nerf guns and water guns and some western cowboy guns.

Unknown said...

guns don't kill people, people kill people

Joel said...

Consensus: The only threat a harmless toy gun poses is that it might be mistaken for a real dangerous gun.

Solution: Take away the harmless toy and keep the danger in the house.

Makes sense.