at risk of sounding pompous here, but the only problem with little people is big people
we did not have nerf guns nor airsoft in my boyhood days
but toys for boys meant toy guns cap pistols & such
half hour TV westerns were every other half hour, and Saturday matinees were all westerns
water squirt guns were for squirting other kids with
suction rubber tipped spring gun darts were for shooting targets with, not people
when dad finally talked mom into you having a BB gun it was understood you could "shoot your eye out", and if you ever thought about pointing it at anybody you knew dad would take it from you, and beat your butt with the dull end, and then break it in half and throw it in the garbage can
and no kid I grew up with was ever even a tiny bit confused about toy guns vs real guns
my dad (ex WWII paratrooper) never owned a gun, never was around any at home.. until I got my first two in mid-teens, gifts from parents and uncle
uncle (also ex-WWII paratrooper) had 'em all over his place, leaded barrel Thompson on the wall, display case full of shotguns
so about age 11 or 12, you got to shoot the real thing, (supervised) and you did as told, when told, and nothing else but told, because you know you would never be told twice (by either one of them, dad or uncle), one screw up is all you get, no "overs"
which meant you got your first 22 and/or shotgun in early to mid teens, and uncle would taking you hunting
which was all done by the same rules as above
our great-grand-children play with cap guns, squirt guns, nerf guns
and are not the least little bit confused about toy vs real, and there are plenty of real in the family
(kept properly stored away from childish temptations, any/all of which will be safely shown to child upon request, accompanied by all the basic "do nots")
one of the four (so far) has had shooting 101 Chipmunk 22 lessons at range with dad and grandpa
same rules my dad used on me, zero tolerance rules
and he had a lot of fun doing it, same as our three grandsons had
none of them get to play with airsoft or BB guns yet
("could put your eye out", you know)
no shortage of big people in our family who are shy about demonstrating to little people what "NO" means, but they are not ready for airsoft yet, and not yet big enough to have their butt whipped with the dull end of a BB gun
toy guns are good, too bad they don't make Mattel Fanner 50's no more
PS
lest ye think I was an abused child, getting your butt whipped was a rarity for us
because it was rarely ever required
the reason being clarity, not confusion, about what the rules were
we weren't even oft threatened with a butt whipping
probably because that would have qualified as being told twice
if/when required, it was not discussed, it was likely to happen real quick, and no explanation was required, because you knew why
mom, of course, might tell you twice, third time was usually "I am going to tell your dad if you don't stop that"
that covered it 90% of the time
5% of the time, she felt sorry for you, and didn't tell dad
5% of the time, you learned what being told once meant
and 5% of the time can be a really small number, once you learn that
repetitive punishment is the result big people not making the rules real clear to little people
little people are not stupid, they are just little versions of you
