What's your opinion on toy guns?

[lauramumof2]

does any one remember the song,

run rabbit, run rabbit, run run run
here come the farmer with his gun gun gun
bang bang bang bang goes the farmers gun
so run rabbit, run rabbit, run run run

I was singing that last week when I was out with the kids and
now im thinking that might not be such a good song to be singing.

More so because Jessica has a toy rabbit called sandy she is besotted with.

 

[Steelgoddess]

Gr8 topic, but Im not sure what side i stand, i guess I wouldn't directly go out and buy a gun for my nipper, when I was younger we had weapons but they were more sword and sorcery type weapons, bows and arrows, swords and shields... We used to make up some really cool games when I was young, but none of it was hate driven (ie Mummy wouldn't let me have that bar of chocolate so im gonna shoot/knife her up)

I agree in a sense it has more to do with HOW they play with them, if they get a knife and they're playing "IM a hoodie Lets knife up the pensioner" then there would be serious questions and the parent can drawyer a line.

Also if we take things away from them, they are going to question it and want to play it more and more...

P.s I had dolls, and that was actually worse then weapons! It was like a Jermy Kyle show, dolls learning they'd been cheated on, the younger ones running away, the list continued...

 

[jennywren]

I don't mind them. I mean, im not sure what the point is of these ones
REAL FAKES
which are direct plastic replicas of the same things, there is no need for a 4/5 year old gun to look exactly like the real thing, but these toy guns like this
TOY
for example or a water pistol one
TOY 2
I personally don't have a problem with we used to play with them (as did every kid I know/knew) and their was never any problems, I know not one person who grew up with a facination with them or has ever used them. My brother used to sit on me and ''shoot'' me at point blank range thinking it was great when I played dead, he aint a killer, he is a copper out there arresting all the killers now so no I don't think playing with guns etc makes anyone in to anything, I think its the way the are brought up and who they hang arround with in their teenage years. I would be more worried of letting Oran hang arround street corners at 14/15/16 with 5 or 10 of his mates than I would him playing with toy guns as a little kid!

 

[beanie]

I was at the park with Seren a couple of months ago and there was this little boy with a toy gun (a rifle, pretty realistic looking) who kept coming up to Seren and "shooting" her saying "your dead". He kept doing it and Seren kept looking at him really confused. I'll be honest, I really disliked that little boy and wished he would piss off with his gun. Over protective mum alert. Oddly enough if Seren was playing at cops and robbers I wouldn't have had an issue.

 

[MissSara]

to be perfectly honest whether or not you give your child guns or you dont they WILL play guns at school this will be with their fingers, a tree branch or some other toy that they pick up, i had the idealistic view that kieron wouldnt have guns but they play whether you like it not

I have to agree with this.. its idealistic to think not allowing kids to play with guns stops them playing the game... Its kinda the same thing of not giving a little girl a doll in case they get themselves pregnant as teenagers on purpose. Its not the toy that causes these things its the parental upbringing...and the crowd they fall into as teenagers. and lets not go into the subject of aggressive video games...

totally agree.
I did up until a year ago say Harrison was never allowed to play with toy guns, but like it has been said he would just find something to play his games with anyway. Often his fingers or my clothes prop........lol.
He isn't mad on them and tends to play with them for a couple of hours and then forgets about them anyway, if he started to show to much interest and play in a way i didnt like then i would take them away. But boys will be boys, and he knows right from wrong.

 

[zebrastripes]

Ps- How comes you need a gun in a rural area ?

mainly to shoot idiot magpies who torment our poultry and steal our eggs

 

[soulem]

If you wouldn't allow your child a toy gun would you allow them a water pistol?? To me they are the same thing except the water pistol does actually fire something and you have to aim and hit a person as part of the game!!!

Personally, I don't mind my kids playing with toy weapons, it's violent video games that I am completely against!

 

[Noor~ul~Usman]

...whilst I am happy for Seren to play cops and robber, cowboys etc with sticks or using her fingers as a gun (I used to do this all the time as a kid) I will never buy them a toy that looks like a gun, nor would I let anyone else buy them a gun or knife either.

My sentiments exactly

You can't stop them being curious and using their imagination but you can try to make sure that you're not encouraging it.
Me and my brother has toy bow and arrows and swords to play 'castles' and things...but we didn't have guns and my mum waas loathed to get us any. In the end she did get water pistols but brightly coloured translucent cheapie ones that were obviously toys and not meant to be like the real thing.

 

[nickilubs]

When I was little I had a potato gun.......I loved it! We were only allowed to play with it in our garden not take it out but I really liked having it me and my brother would be outside playing for ages. But when my friend told me in America there was people with guns I would near cry and get really scared!

My oldest brother had a cork gun for shooting tin cans that we would play with and we wouldn't dare point that at each other! Same as my dad had one for the farm which we would also never go near and knew perfectly well it was dangerous.

I think it depends on your child and their mentality and how they grow up. If you would say you wont give your child a toy gun but would give a water pistol then I would question your thinking. Same as if you were to allow them to go to paintballing/lazer shooting or even playing a computer game where they are using guns. I think by saying you wouldn't have them have a toy gun then you would have to consider all the other options too theres alot of things that would have the same effect.

 

[skairdykat]

I don't understand why it's okay for kids to play 'fighting' with toy bow & arrows and swords but not with toy guns

Do real bow & arrows and swords not have the capabilitites to kill someone?

 

[lea m]

to be perfectly honest whether or not you give your child guns or you dont they WILL play guns at school this will be with their fingers, a tree branch or some other toy that they pick up, i had the idealistic view that kieron wouldnt have guns but they play whether you like it not

I have to agree with this.. its idealistic to think not allowing kids to play with guns stops them playing the game... Its kinda the same thing of not giving a little girl a doll in case they get themselves pregnant as teenagers on purpose. Its not the toy that causes these things its the parental upbringing...and the crowd they fall into as teenagers. and lets not go into the subject of aggressive video games...

ITA! I wont stop my sons playing with guns! I played with them, I dont shoot people, my OH played with them, he doesnt shoot people! Playing cops and robbers and cowboys and indians is fun for boys and just something they do! As Squiglet said, I wouldnt stop my daughter playing "mummy" for the fear of her going getting pregnant at 13!
When it gets silly is when parents buy their young children BB guns to "play" with or air rifles!?

 

[beanie]

If you would say you wont give your child a toy gun but would give a water pistol then I would question your thinking. Same as if you were to allow them to go to paintballing/lazer shooting or even playing a computer game where they are using guns. I think by saying you wouldn't have them have a toy gun then you would have to consider all the other options too theres alot of things that would have the same effect.

lol you can question my thinking. Seren has a few toys that squirt water, none of which look remotely like a real gun. I still wouldn't buy a toy that looks like a gun but like I said I have no issue with her pretending to play with guns using her hands, sticks etc etc. She can use her imagination like I did. It would make me uncomfortable to hand her a "toy" that looks like any of these clicky

 

[x-kirsty-x]

If you would say you wont give your child a toy gun but would give a water pistol then I would question your thinking. Same as if you were to allow them to go to paintballing/lazer shooting or even playing a computer game where they are using guns. I think by saying you wouldn't have them have a toy gun then you would have to consider all the other options too theres alot of things that would have the same effect.

lol you can question my thinking. Seren has a few toys that squirt water, none of which look remotely like a real gun. I still wouldn't buy a toy that looks like a gun but like I said I have no issue with her pretending to play with guns using her hands, sticks etc etc. She can use her imagination like I did. It would make me uncomfortable to hand her a "toy" that looks like any of these clicky

Exactly what I was going to write

 

[nickilubs]

If you would say you wont give your child a toy gun but would give a water pistol then I would question your thinking. Same as if you were to allow them to go to paintballing/lazer shooting or even playing a computer game where they are using guns. I think by saying you wouldn't have them have a toy gun then you would have to consider all the other options too theres alot of things that would have the same effect.

lol you can question my thinking. Seren has a few toys that squirt water, none of which look remotely like a real gun. I still wouldn't buy a toy that looks like a gun but like I said I have no issue with her pretending to play with guns using her hands, sticks etc etc. She can use her imagination like I did. It would make me uncomfortable to hand her a "toy" that looks like any of these clicky

Exactly what I was going to write

What I meant was to if you were to buy a water pistol....something that looks like a gun then surely you could not say you wouldn't buy them a toy gun that shoots nothing? If it doesn't look like a gun but shoots water fair enough....but if it is a water pistol it is the same thing.....theres a reason behind it being called "pistol". If your daughters toy that squirts water is nothing like a gun then it has no relevance to this thread? It could be a hose pipe?

 

[beanie]

this I am ok with clicky It looks nothing like a gun, and would not be mistaken for one whatsoever. Seren Also with water pistols when you play with them, you don't play at shooting the bad guy, you just want to get the other people as wet as possible. She also has a bubble sword, but she uses it as a bubble wand like its meant to be used, not as a sword.I have no problem with Seren having something like that. What I do have an issue with is actual toy guns like I put in a link earlier whether they shoot anything or not. It might not make sense to some but something about seeing a child playing with a toy gun makes me feel very uncomfortable, and I would not be happy to see my child running around with a toy weapon. I remmber when I was younger I had a play knife that had a retractable blade and me and my friend would run round stabbing each other. I never grew up to be a knife weilding maniac but I would definately not let any of my children have one of those. Times have chaged, when I was growing up a real gun was something you just couldn't get. My dad was in the army so I grew up around people carrying loaded guns in the camp but your average person just didn't carry a gun round. This is not the case nowadays, the same with knives.