Toy Guns

Crazy In - posted on 01/30/2013

i kno

Missy - posted on 07/09/2010

Hi Gena,
Just want to throw in my 2 cents about toy guns. I have 3 children and all three are boys. When I had my first son, almost 19 years ago, when I was 19, my feelings on this subject were made very clear. Everyone who was going to be a regular part of Timothy's daily life knew from the gate-my son was not going to grow up thinking that guns are "boy" toys! Not in this day and age. I am very greatful to all my family, and his dads family, for respecting my views and never giving me s--- about it. To this day not one play gun has ever been a part of my boys play things- unfortunately that goes for fun little water guns too! They do, they promote violence.

Michelle - posted on 07/04/2010

It is totally up to each parent to deal with this situation as they see fit. That being said children who are exposed to toy guns, swords bow and arrows that sort of thing are less likely to be overly intrigued by them when they get older so won't feel the need to experiment with the real deal.. it does not desensitize them to violence. My son plays with toy guns and many other toy weapons but he fights invisible dragons, and other mythical creature he is one of the most non violent kids I know he does not bully and he does not feel the need to point them at anyone. They are strictly for play however the majority of our guns are water, or nerf and so are the other weapons.

Alicia - posted on 07/04/2010

I believe it is how the family raises their kids. My family is very avid in hunting. We hunt year round. So my kids are exposed, but they are taught what a real gun is and what a pretends gun is. They do have play guns, nerf guns, and bow and arrows. But they know not to point at any person, or talk about 'killing you". they most pretend they are hunting "dragons, dinosaurs, bear,deer, etc. they know that daddy's gun case is completely off limits and locked at all times. If your family says no guns, then everybody around should understand and not be offended. I have some familt members who dislike guns alot, so we respect that and buy nothing of that nature. You do what you believe.

Eileen - posted on 06/25/2010

My son is now 14 and I have never been ok with him having a toy gun. I went so far as to say never have a sword either. An ex-friend of mine bought him a sword for his 2nd birthday and I told her to take it back. She was most offended, but then so was I as she didn't respect my wishes. If your family cannot respect your wishes to not buy the guns, then you should tell them to take it back. Stand up for what you believe in.

Sherri - posted on 06/25/2010

I am sorry but guns DO not belong in the hand of children ever. Possibly in a hunting family I could understand but guns are NOT toys. They are designed to KILL that is there one and only purpose. So no way no how will my child or any child that visits my home play guns real or pretend. We don't allow water guns, nerf guns, cowboy guns, or any other possible gun that stupid toy companies can dream of.

Mary - posted on 06/25/2010

MY son is eleven andstarted playing with guns since he was 8 months. As he grew hehas played with different guns,like other moms he was told never to point at anyone..He played cowboys, star wars,cops and robbers,anything he could imagine playing. He still has his guns,I guess you could say he has a collection.His interest is B.B. guns, Pellet and is showing interest in real guns.I don;t think letting them play with guns has anything with violence. It's how he is taught about the use of a gun. He is told that b.b. guns are not to shoot at any animal. So there is another issue ,because some parents let their small boys go shoot animals,

Leslie - posted on 06/24/2010

I live in a family that hunts. My 14 yr old and my 5 yr old son have had "toy" guns in the past. We treat them just like our real hunting guns. (ie, they aren't to point them at anyone etc...) However, our Nerf guns are for fun and our whole family will get together and play fight. When we do, no one "dies" and they aren't "killing" each other. They are the only toy guns that they are allowed to point at other people.



I used to be completely anti- toy guns until I married into a hunting family. Honestly, I realized that I was scared to let my oldest son play with guns, because I didn't know much about guns and how to teach him to play the right way or even handle guns.



My sons are taught to respect guns and my 14 yr old has been taught to used them. My 5 yr old will be taught to use them as he gets older, but he can tell you now that we don't point them at other people and what exactly they are used for (not hurting people and only killing what we eat).



I used to be just like you, so I understand where you are coming from. But that being said, my family makes sure that respect for the gun is taught. Also, all guns that aren't toys (basically the Nerf guns) are locked up at all times, and neither of my sons know where the keys are.



I also believe that teaching my children respect for guns has removed their focus from them. They aren't interested in toy guns anymore (besides the family Nerf fights- lol!!)



I hope this makes sense. I am not trying to convince you to let your kids have guns or anything, I just wanted to let you know how we handle things at my house.



As for the violence issue, I think it all depends on how you teach your kids to play with the toy guns.

Sherri - posted on 06/23/2010

We do not allow them in our home. I do not think that guns are toys and don't want them to EVER think they are. So we have a no toy gun rule in our home. My nephew came to visit one day and had one and I made dad take it back home. I explained we didn't allow them here end of story.

Angie - posted on 06/23/2010

I believe violent play (which is what toys guns promote) desensitizes children to violence. My husband is in law enforcement and has seen first hand the effects of violence in our world. My son is now 17 and has NEVER had a toy gun (except a green water gun) and is hasn't hurt him a bit. He plans to major in criminal justice/Spanish and just now is starting to want to learn to shoot. My daughter won a Nerf gun in school and she didn't even open the box. She sold it in our garage sale that summer. Stick to your guns (no pun intended), there's no reason to start our children thinking about these things so young. Let your family know how upsetting is was for you son to have his toys taken from him. Assure them that is will happen EVERY time a gun comes home. Let them know that if they allow him to play with toy guns in their home, he won't be allowed to visit unsupervised.

Crystal - posted on 06/23/2010

I can see where you're coming from and I sorta feel the same way. my son is almost 5 and he sees Daddy playing Modern Warfare on PS3, and actually loves playing it too. So we just make sure that he knows its just a game and its NOT ok to say "I'm gonna kill you" to anyone. We tell him he can "pretend" to kill pretend bad guys, and thats it! As far as the toy guns goes, I won't allow anything that looks remotely real, not even the "cowboy" ones. He has two nerf guns and a "popping" gun (with the string and little red end that pops off). I think it's important to let them see a little of whats real in the world as far as violence so that you can be there to explain what it is, why it is, etc. and answer any questions they may have. Its unfortunate that its a part of our world, so I think we need to take it into our own hands and do the explaining instead of ignoring it and just allowing them to play like they're killing each other. They need to know the right and wrong about those types of situations.