"Guns are not toys," so why toy guns for kids?

[Parker Dean]

We knew the difference between a toy gun and a real gun.

Exactly. Kids do know the difference between toys and real items.

It should be noted that kids will say anything they think will get them out of trouble and if they think saying they thought an item was a toy will work, then they'll say that without the slightest pangs of conscience.

I also think that this idea of not being able to tell the difference between fantasy and reality (for those not mentally ill) is due to lawyers saying whatever it takes to get their clients off.

 

[Standing Wolf]

If I'd had kids, they'd have had real guns.

I'm gradually being convinced there's nothing wrong with toy guns, but still believe real guns are better.

 

[pax]

We knew the difference between a toy gun and a real gun.

Your parents probably didn't own any guns this size:

Or any superlightweight guns in colors like these:

Whether you let your kids play with toy guns or not, it is very, very important that you teach them what to do if they see a gun and do not KNOW for sure that the gun is a toy.

That is all.

pax

 

[harvester of sorrow]

Wow, I'm glad my parents didn't take some of these approaches when I was growing up. My brother and I always had the most realistic toy guns you could find, but my father made it clear that these were TRAINING AIDS. We played with them all time, shot a metric ton of those paper cap rolls, etc., but we weren't allowed to point them at any of our friends or each other. I got a BB-gun pretty much as soon as I could walk, I still have vague memories of my grandfather cocking it for me since I wasn't big enough. We got real guns as early as possible, and it was always treated as a system: shooting the REAL guns was the reward for handling the TRAINING AIDS properly. The one exception was water pistols, which even back then were pretty clearly NOT guns, even to a 4 year old.

Also, I was every bit as obsessed with guns when I was 3-4-5-6 years old as I am now. My parents didn't try to hide them from us or frighten us with painful negative reinforcement, they simply told us that any time we wanted to look at or handle the guns, all we had to do was tell them and they would unload them for us so that we could look at them together. I could look at and handle real guns anytime I wanted to, so there was no mystery in them for me. Guns were in view in most rooms of the house, but my brother and I never even considered picking them up without getting one of our parents first....why would we need to?

 

[Mannlicher]

My Dad never let us kids have cap guns. He always felt that playing with guns was just not a good idea. There were always real guns around, in a corner, or a closet. Even at very young ages, we could touch them, as long as we asked, and Dad was with us.

 

[strambo]

I agree with PAX regarding kids need to be 100% sure the gun is a toy and that is harder to do these days. I disagree with the airsoft comments though. Airsoft guns most assuredly are not toys! They say so on the box. They are airguns and should be treated the same as firearms. The main difference is in Rule #4 because airsoft guns have many more suitable targets and penetration isn't an issue. The rule still applies, just lots more stuff can qualify as a suitable target/backstop.

Airsoft guns by law have orange tips (that lots of folks paint over). This is irrelevant to me because they should be treated the same as real guns anyway and if anyone is stupid enough to run around in public pointing a gun (air or otherwise) at people well, Darwinism comes into play. If parents teach their kids about firearms and restrict access to airguns until old enough and have a proven track record with them then it shouldn't be a problem. "Toy gun" mistaken ID shootings have been happening a lot longer than airsoft has been around.

Now, as to airsoft games/simulated training...again the same rules as real guns apply. You ensure all guns are in fact airsoft before starting. You ensure everyone has safety gear and you have safety rules in place. Same as if you were using real guns with simunition or military type blank/MILES gear training. The difference is once you ensure all guns are airsoft with no firearms present in the area, airsoft is infinitely safer than simunition/blanks because it is impossible for them to fire a real bullet by mistake.

 

[cracked butt]

I bought a toy rifle for my son when he was 2 1/2. Its a not too realistic looking lever action thats blue in color. He won't go for a ride on his bigwheel or bike down the street without it, in case there are some geese to shoot in the ponds down the street. It scares the bejeebers out of the blissninnies on my street.

 

[Ryder]

I have no problem realizing toys don't endager others. The problem is that others have a problem realizing toys won't hurt them. Police are known shoot kids who point toy guns at them. These days we have lots of CCW holders. Go read Packing.org on the subject. There are people don't care how old a kid is. There are people who don't care if it's even a toy. People these days seem to be so fearful for their own safety that I would not let a kid treat a toy as though it were not real.

I don't think toy guns are a bad thing. I personally used them as a teaching aid. My kids were taught safety and shooting techniques at a very young age using toys. It didn't take long and they've always done great with real guns.

 

[GRB]

Many 'real' things are not toys yet toys are fashioned after the real deal. You left out an awful lot of them in the original post. There are real and toy:

Archery Sets
Guns
Knives
Bombs (or were such toys when I was a kid - of course we still have ral ones)
Army Tanks
Jet Fighters
Bombers
Army Men
Navy Ships
Ambulances
Fire Trucks
Cop Cars
Get-away Cars
Good Guys
Bad Guys
Dogs
Cats
Animals of all sorts
Ovens
Refridgerators
ladders
tool sets
power tools
babies (as in dools for this and the next four also)
Boys
Girls
Men
Women

Heck, the list goes on an on and on of the real things in life mimicked by toys. Nothing wrong with any of them as a toy so long as the child playing with them knows there is a difference between real item and toy item and so long as the adult makes sure the real deal is secure as it should be from prying little hands. As the child grows older, the difference get explained more and more until the time when the child is old enough to actually handle the real deal. This goes for any of the above toys although the child may no longer nbe a child when he or she is old enough to handle the real McCoy oif whatever it is (such as in the case of bombs).

As for applying any of the firerams safety rules (I am guessing that is what you mean by rule number 1 although I strongly doubt that your rule number 1 and mine are at all the same regarding handling firerams) I think it would be ridiculou to teacha child that firearms safety rules apply to toy guns (I am not talking BB guns as toys but mean cap guns, light guns, water guns). Toys have there own safety rules, which are pretty much what you teach every child about safe play. These would be rules like: Play nice, share your toys within reason, don't poke other kids eyes, don't fight, don't run with sharp objects, don't play with things that are not toys, if you are not sure if it is real or a toy then do not touch it ask an adult, etc... In other words toy rules and play rules apply to toys, firearms safety rules and shooting rules apply to firearms - two different sets of rules. You teach one at play so the other is later easier to teach seriously 9can apply to guns or anything that is taught later in life). There is no inconsistency in giving a child a toy and letting them play with it and at the same time keeping them knowledgeable of the fact that the real deal is no toy and is potentially dangerous if mishandled.

All the best,
GB

 

[jtward01]

I had toy guns up until I turned seven. (At age seven I graduated to a .22 LR Steven's Favorite rifle.) Even with the toys I was not allowed to point them at people and gun safety rules were drilled into my head, the first being "never point a gun at something you don't want to kill."

I have a photo of myself at about age four. I'm sitting in a chair holding my Daisy BB pistol. The muzzle is pointed at the floor and my index finger is alongside the frame, not on the trigger. Even at that age I knew to keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction and my finger off the trigger until ready to fire.

Toy guns are fine, if they are used to teach children proper and safe gun handling skills.

To this day I cannot pick up a gun without checking the chamber, even if I know absolutely that the gun was empty when it was put away. I've tried to ignore the compulsion but I can't, at least not for more than a few seconds. I have to check. I HAVE to check. I can't help it. Thanks Uncle Bill.

 

[harvester of sorrow]

I think it would be ridiculou to teacha child that firearms safety rules apply to toy guns (I am not talking BB guns as toys but mean cap guns, light guns, water guns).

Heh, my father would disagree with you.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I think for most kids, the gap between toy guns and real guns is a couple years. My first exposure to firearms was at 11 and I quit my toy guns at about 9 or so. Still liked guns, just thought I was too old for toy ones. After my adventure with the Mossberg semi-auto at 11, (Thanks always, Jim) I begged my folks for my own. It came on my 12th birthday, a Stevens bolt.

There was some growing in those 2 years. With that growing came respect for firearms. But I wouldn't give up all that time with toy guns for anything in the world. My childhood was the best.

 

[Dave R]

Would you enforce Rule #1 when your kids played with toy guns -- why or why not?

I didn't mean to do this, it just turned out this way...

Many years ago, my (then) 9 year old son was playing with a toy pistol. On a lark, I asked him if he wanted to learn the safety rules adults used whan handling guns. He seemd interested, so I taught him the 4 rules. Told him not to point it at any real person. Walls, dolls, imaginary enemies are OK. But an adult would treat a toy gun like a real gun, and never point it at a person.

A couple weeks later, I heard his 4-year old sister say "Hey! Finger off the trigger till sights are on the target!"

I went to investigate.

Seems he had taught her the 4 rules, too. Probably to show her how grown up he was. She called him on it. I was pretty pleased.

So, by hindsight, I think it was a good thing to do.