My Boys Like Shootouts. What's Wrong With That? (WashPost)

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As someone still in my childhood(13 yrs old) I have experience. Despite going to a fairly tolerant Christian school, there is a great feeling of anti-weaponry. We had Rome and Greece days, and our teacher totally said 'no' to my friend bringin in his reproduction LOTR sword and was reluctant to let us bring in wooden ones( we won that one, though).
Someone once asked that I be removed from school (still don't know who it was) because i was 'violent, obsessed with killing and a threat', My crime, mentioning my Rossi Youth .410 shotgun, which, at that time, sat locked under my father's bed. Thankfully, the principal didn't buy that bullcrap and I was'nt punished, although I was asked to 'lay low' for the rest of the year.
Toy guns are great. My favorite are the Paris realistic cap guns and rubber ban guns. I have countless memories of running around with a 1911 or Tommy style rubber band gun, shootin 'size 32 caliber' rubber bands at my friends-good fun. BB guns are great: I got my Daisy Timberwolf when I was seven.
But toys can also teach important skills. I won an airsoft shootout with my friend. We were both using Crosman CO2 pistols, and were behind trees. M trick: I actually aligned the sights, hitting him in the hadn and firing a decisive fight-winning shot. They have often laughed at my 'laser sights are useless because they encourage you to not aim' philosophy, but, it's kinda true (CTCs excluded).
But most importantly, thry teach safety. Two examples of the 'all guns are always loaded' rule. I had just opened up a new Airsoft GLOCK at a gun show. Wanting to test the trigger, I racked back he slide and pressed it to my thigh, slowly squeezing back the trigger. Needless to say, it hurt.
A second time my CO2 jammed, and a friend pressed it to close to his hand, squeezing the trigger. That thing shoots the .12 gram BBs a 400 fps. He had a severe blister that he had to pop.
 
my 2 cents

Well, I'm only 21, and and don't plan on having kids any time soon, but personally, when I do, I'm not buying them any realistic looking toy guns until they're like 10-14 years old. Why? Because I want to drill into their heads that guns are not toys and are to be respected. That being said, I have zero problem with cap guns, transparent guns, nerf guns, water guns, celery sticks, whatever.
As soon as they hit 12-13 years of age (and I don't care if they're male or female, I'm doing this regardless) I'm buying them some realistic airsoft replicas of whatever gun interests them the most at the time (assuming they haven't been BANNED by then...). Those are pretty real looking, and even I have a hard time telling them apart from the real deal. Some are even made from steel, and actually feel just like the real thing, right down to trigger pull weight and field stripping. I'll give them the airsoft guns under strict supervision, and drill into their heads day and night for as long as it takes for them to learn the 4 rules. I'll have them treat the airsoft guns like if they were real, and I'll also take them to the range with me, as often as I can or as often as it interests them. I will also let them know that anytime they want to see my guns, to ask me, and I will more than happy to show them my guns after making them safe, and that they can look and touch all they want, so long as I am present. That way guns are not a taboo thing, and are seen as everyday tools, yet still respected and not viewed as toys.

I am pretty shocked at how uptight and downright silly some parents can be. Forbidding something makes it more appealing. Believe me, I know, I was a kid not all that long ago.
I grew up in a house where we had no guns at all. I had to basically beg to be able to own a BB gun when I was 16... guns were taboo.
However, once I started plinking in my back yard and no one died, or lost an eye, my mom warmed up alot to guns, and now has zero problem with me owning as many firearms as I want, and she even owns one as well. Yes, I am an adult now, but me having a cocked and locked 1911 two feet away from me on my desk as I type this, along with a loaded shotgun in the closet, among other things, would have been utterly unthinkable less than 4 years ago. But now it's viewed as perfectly normal. My 15 year old sister got bitten by the gunpowder bug as well, so it looks like the trend will continue.

The point? Exposure to firearms is a GOOD thing. Not only does it remove the "taboo" aspect of it, which makes the kids want it more (let's be honest, how many of us tried things like tobacco or alcohol before we were supposed to, just because they were "bad" ?) but it also creates new, SAFER shooters, because people who have positive experiences with firearms starting at an early age, usually grow up to be responsible shooters, or at least are not completely ignorant. In this day and age we can use all the help we can get.
 
I was almost never without my double holster toy gun rig pretending to be Hopalong Cassady as a kid- Surprisingly, according to today's doctrine, I didn't turn out to be a mass murderer or terrorist- Are kids different now and somehow magically more influenced by toys to turn into loons?- I think not!- More likely they are influenced less by the toys and more by the village idiots that are the parents- Sometimes I think we are all doomed- The abject fear and panic about anything, including their own shawdow, that is transfered to the kids by those that are supposedly preparing them for adulthood, is going to turn this nation into blithering idiots-
 
I sent the author of that piece an email noting that we share common ground, he sent me an email back thanking me for the support. He said he has received approximately 200 emails, and while most are supportive, the most vicious are the zero tolerance folks. I guess they should be afraid of guns, given that they would probably use one on him if they could find him.
 
akodo ~

I thought you had to be joking, or the link would go to The Onion or something.

*sigh*

Sometimes I'm just really happy to be so far out of touch with the rest of the world.

pax
 
My brother's 5 years old (17 year age gap :eek: )
Here he is learning to shoot a cheap airsoft replica of my carry gun:
IMG00221.jpg
IMG00220.jpg

He's actually a really good shot! (all things considered...) So I went out and bought a little P22 airsoft pistol for him, and now I'm looking for a kydex paddle holster for it (he insists on using a holster, don't know why). For his birthday (he's 6 in 2 days!) I got him a western capgun set with 2 pistols and holsters, I got him an actual belt that will hold it better than the plastic belt in the set, and of course a sheriff's badge :D

BTW, by "I" I mean my girlfriend. She picked it all up for him. He has a crush on her, it's adorable.
 
I notice a lot of posters here will not buy their children realistic looking toy guns and want to drill into their heads that guns are not toys, yet these same posters had these toys avilable when they were young and even played with them?

Originally posted by Titan6:
We don't have toy guns in the casa. IMHO they are too dangerous and have little training value at a young age. We only have real guns. Toy swords we are debating they have been watching the Star Wars series and now want light sabres.
Click to expand...

What kind of training value does a toy need? It is a toy not a piece of equipment. What kind of training are your kids going through that they need training gear?

Why not just let kids be kids and have their toy guns?
 
I had a ton of toy guns growing up, back when they were allowed to look as realistic as possible... Ones that shot those little yellow rubber BB's, plastic disks, foam rubber bullets, and of course water, and then came photon, laser tag, and even paintball. I shudder to think what would have happened to us if today's rules were in effect; probably I would have been in kiddie gitmo instead of ending up in one of Professor Turley's classes.
I have to say, I appreciate his skills at skewering flawed arguments now a lot more than I did when he graded my environmental law final, and I didn't do anything as foolish as conflate playing with your food with terroristic threats. It certainly seems like foolishness is becoming the conventional wisdom in situations like that.
 
If someone subjected a child of mine to persecution (yes, that's the word I used) for playing a harmless game, I would put enough rat-b*****d lawyers on them to keep them in court 'til the cows come home.
:fire:
Playing cops and robbers or whatever is a 'free speach' issue. Their play in no way endangers anyone, and if the adult phyco-sissies are offended, that is too darn bad.
:cuss:
The same with the art work mentioned here. It's 'free expression', not a threat, and hurts no one. If somebody is offended, too bad. The entire collection of stuff called 'modern art' offends me. Does that mean I can burn down the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, or have the artists arrested. Hummm.... actually, that might not be such a bad idea!
:evil:
 
Please note: the picture I posted above was just posing. Before I hear an earfull, I require him to wear his child-size shooting glasses before firing the airsoft. He was just posing in the picture.
 
What fun is childhood without swords/guns ?

When the recruiter told my two friends: "Sorry, we are only allowing women and visible minorities apply to be police officers, please re-apply in a few years." I began to see why so many parents turn their sons into pussies, lots of work out there as secretaries...:rolleyes:
 
I remember hearing about a study that was done many years ago (in the '70s perhaps), where some boys were raised without being allowed to have toy guns.
Seems the little boogers would make a gun with their fingers and go, "Pow, pow, pow."

The mentality expressed in that article is what will strip us of our hobby if we do not overcome it. Guns, as a safe, wholesome, healthy, hobby (as well as for defense and tradition) has to be pushed in front of the ignorant and the chronically PC correct afflicted if we are to prevail.
 
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Thank you for the Johnny 7 flashback. I had the contraption when I was a kid. I can't believe you found a picture of it. Man did I kick butt while playing army with that think. :D

I have two young girls in the house. 8 and 10. They know that any time they want to see my pistol or rifles, all they have to do is ask. I will stop whatever I am doing, and get them out for them to touch and hold. Safe gun handling is stressed. I have never had a problem with them messing with them without my being there, cause I took the msyticysim (spelling) out of them. Now, they could care less that they are in the house.
 
It's sad, but the children whose parents try to shield them from any exposure to toy guns are most likely to end up hurting themselves or someone else when they come across the real thing, because you know those parents would never, ever teach them the four rules of gun safety. Heck, I doubt the parents even know them.
 
As the father of four kids younger than 9, I confess to being an overly obsessive and doting parent. I secretly follow my 8-year-old son, Benjamin, when he goes out on his bike, to make sure that he doesn't ride in the middle of the street. I hover inches over my 18-month-old daughter, Madie, at the playground to make sure that she doesn't eat sand.
Click to expand...

You can skip the rest of what he wrote after reading this. He will merely try to rationalize his own shortcomings as a person and conclude that for some reason he can't figure it out. He simply projects his own issues onto the issue of children with guns. The problem isn't the children, it is him and every person like him who wants to live in a false reality that they must control to the last detail.

Zero tolerance is borne out of the need to control not for saftey or for "social well-being" (whatever that disgusting term means). Look at the people who pass those laws and there you will find the psychological issues that need treatment. He is confused because he doesn't realize the absurdity of his position, which is in direct conflict with the reality around him. Maybe one day he'll figure it out, but more likely he'll repress that question and go on trying to keep reality out of his lovely little fake world.
 
Excellent article, calm, dispassionate, and a knowlegeable compromise on wishes and the reality of children. I feel so sad for the children of such phobic parents. That very rigidity will inevitably scar their children. I too, mourn the death of childhood--wandering around the neighborhood or out along the railroad tracks, finding treasures, eating blackberries, shooting our .177 pellet gun. I can look back to enjoyment, not a carefully choreographed and excessively busy schedule. I had a lot of fun, even if I did not accomplish anything to put on a resume for the best preschool. As I cut back on working, I find I have time to just relax and enjoy. I was fascinated by guns and other weapons ever since I can remember. My parents never were so I doubt it is an idea planted by adults. I still love all the weapons and collect them. I think some of these people are so consumed by fear, that they are unable to enjoy life and will pass this on to their children. Unfortunately, they want more and more governmental intervention to make their fear go away and do not realize they should fear the government as much as everything else.:banghead:
 
I might add that today you see kids riding bicycles while wearing helmets! When I was a kid, I rode bicycles and put plenty of miles behind me. I did it without a helmet! If I fell down I'd get up, wipe the dirt and blood off of me, regain my bearings and ride along forgetting about the cuts and scrapes. Little mishaps happen and they can build character.

I have also see more broken bones and shattered egos from kids doing outrageous stunts on skateboards. Yes some wear the protective gear, many don't!

You just can't wrap your kid in a padded suit. If you do, you're sure to trade that padded suit for a padded room later in life! The last thing we need is a generation of "Bubble Boys and Girls"!
 
Childhood isn't dead, folks.

At least, it does not have to be ... unless you let it be for your children.

You can't change the whole world or the whole country or the whole state. Might have some small impact on your own neighborhood, but not much. What you can change is what life is like for your own family.

My kids have an impressive collection of boo-boos and bruises from wandering around outdoors by themselves. During one of the coldest nights of the winter here (into the single digits), I let my 15 year old sleep outside ... by himself ... to test his cold-weather camping gear. My 13 year old has a tree house he's worked on assiduously for years, a frightening collection of rotten boards and rusty nails. The 12 and 11 year olds like to hunt for frogs down by the creek, by themselves. They pick blackberries and play army and go on hikes or bike rides together and disappear together for hours in the summertime to do who-knows-what off in the woods.

Ah, country life, right? Well, yes. We worked like hades to get out of the city so our boys could have that kind of life.

But even when we lived in the city, and the kids were very small, they were every bit as free as I could possibly manage: at the playground I never set foot in the toys area unless one of them insisted, and escaped as soon as I could. They played in the yard without my presence (though I would hover around the windows keeping a close eye on them, they never knew it). I let them dig holes in the lawn, create elaborate constructions of their own in the backyard, play hide and seek for hours. When they brought me a problem, I fought against the impulse to solve it for them and instead asked, "What do you think we should do?" and "How would you settle this?"

We threw away our TV and limited their contact with electronic games when they were small. As they've gotten older, we've gradually allowed a bit more electronic gizmos every year -- gizmos the kids treasure, but don't center their lives around.

They're going to grow up to be independent thinkers if I have to pull their teeth to do it. And in the meanwhile, they are going to have a real childhood, one with skinned knees and cap guns and "scientific" explorations of the bugs in the backyard and everything else that goes with it.

You can do that, too, for your kids.

Childhood doesn't have to be dead, unless you let it die.

pax
 
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