Toys For Tots will not accept toy guns/weapons

Here in Ohio, there was a recent shooting of a teen that had one of those plastic pellet guns that look like ther real things. I remember a few years ago when there was a push to get toy guns to look more like toys and less like the real thing. It put quite the downer on playing war in the woods. Perhaps that is why they won't even take them.

That is ridiculous beyond belief…but sadly…I am not surprised. It would appear that even our beloved Marine Corps has succumbed to the PC world of the “Brady Bunch†and their kind.

My better half was raised by a couple of what I call 'Mega-anti's'. His parents refused to allow him to have toy guns as a small child. However, once he started using sticks and saying "bang, bang"...they knew they were beaten!!!

The radio spots running in my area refer to "non-violent" toys. Last I checked, toys just sat there.

Unless they mean Chuckie!!! OMG!

Personally, I would never give children toy guns. Guns are not play things, and I think the act of pointing a gun at another person and saying "bang" is *not* play.

I think it's a much better idea to take the young ones shooting as often as possible to teach them safe handling techniques, as well as respect for the power guns have.

That's just my opinion.

"Chuckie"...that's a good one!

I grew up with toy guns and played with them extensively. Now that I have my own children I have moved to Graystar's camp.

Gun toys may be fun but they teach bad skills and bad habits. I want to teach my children that guns are NOT toys. They need to respect guns and know how to use them.

So, toy guns = bad, real guns = good.

What Pilgrim says is mostly true. Gun-related toys are accepted (how you going to stop someone from putting it in the box?), but are not distributed.

But where do all the gun-related toys end up? In the hands of a Marine's child!

I sponsor the program here and have a box in my office. Several toy guns in there.

Hmmmm, wonder who gave those?

Being a newbie here, I don't want to start a disagreement or anything, but I have a different perspective on toys than some of my friends.

I've heard for years that video games are bad for kids, that cartoons are bad for kids, that toy guns are bad for kids, role playing games are bad for kids...and even that "Harry Potter" books are bad for kids.

However, as a mom of kids who are allowed all of these things, I can honestly say that each has contributed positively to the 'big people' my 'little people' have become and are becoming.

For example, my oldest son is now serving in the USAF. He played video games of all kinds since he was old enough to hold a controller. He also read many sci-fi and fantasy books, played cops and robbers with toy guns as a small boy, played versions of D&D, listened to many forms of music and watched all sorts of movies. However, he also spent a good portion of his time in the woods learning about nature on camping trips, played freeze tag and monkey in the middle, had a "My Buddy" doll when he was two, played with erector sets, and fired real firearms...you get the idea... He learned something from every type of play or recreational activity he did.

He graduated at the very top of his homeschool association, scored exceptionally well on his ACTs, and made friends easily in any situation. He is also a very good and safe shooter. He understands politics better than most people I know twice his age…and even on occasion, he disagrees with his father and I on the issues.

So, how did we do this? By utilizing parental guidance instead of parental control...by teaching him to think and to find answers on his own…teaching him by example instead of words only…but mostly, by using principles of balance when it came to what was real and what was fantasy or entertainment.

Now, I don’t claim to be a perfect parent or have perfect children, as I believe both to be mythical creatures in this world; however, these things have worked and are working for us. So far, none of our children have developed bad shooting habits from playing with toy guns, nor have they become overly aggressive people because of it (which is what my husband’s parents feared). They realize as well as they can for their individual ages that there is a time and place for everything…and play is just play...and learning about firearms and firearm safety is not 'play', but a great gift we enjoy in this country...and one to be preserved.


PS: The example of my oldest son was not to toot my own horn as to my parenting skills, BTW, but was used just as an example.

Vey insightful Mama06........I agree.........I grew up playing war,guns ,cowboys and indians,and I'm pretty well adjusted..........my parents loved me,they said it,I knew it and everything else was gravy.....

Some years ago, there was a fierce attempt in Germany to oust Brother Grimm's "Fairy Tales", because "they are violent and cruel"

Seems that "political correctness" is not a specific American disease.

Hell, I grew up in Texas, I had to play cowboys and Indians....lol..
But, I tell you this, if the Marines started telling me what kind of toys to give, they wouldn't get a thing from me.....there is nothing wrong with toy guns and kids playing with them, I did, and I haven't shot anyone yet....

When I think back to my childhood I can't remember a time when I didn't have toy guns to play with. I remember being really young and wearing my "authentic" Lone Ranger rig with plastic silver pistols and cowboy hat out all the time. No one ever said anything about it as it was typical at the time. Now a days I would bet parents would be up in arms about it. In my older childhood I had toy guns that looked very real. I remember running around the woods with friends playing war with my Dad's old army ammo belt, canteen and a very real looking toy M-16. It was a lot of fun back then. It's to bad that todays kids are never going to know the same fun. Hell, I even used sticks that looked like guns when over a friends house and I didn't have my toy gun.

I think as a society, we've taken something away from what childhood should be. Some parents are content with children killing thousands of mutant zombies on computers and X-Boxs without a problem, but freak at the though of thier child being outside playing pretend war. It doesn't make sense to me. Children outside playing seems to be a thing of the past.

Just my thoughts

Some years ago, there was a fierce attempt in Germany to oust Brother Grimm's "Fairy Tales", because "they are violent and cruel"

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Just in this morning's news I saw that some pshrinks came out with a study that said fairy tales like "Cinderella" and "Snow White" are bad for kids because they rely on sexual stereotypes - that makes them bad for the little kids' psyches.

As for toy guns . . . I had a veritable arsenal when I was a kid. I also started accumulating BB and pellet guns, then later real guns, earlier than most. I NEVER confused the two. (Of course, I was also raised by a mother who stayed at home when I was little, and had a father who spent time with his son.)

I think this stuff about toy guns being bad for kids is just pure, steaming, bovine excrement.

I agree with mama06, toys are toys, and brains are to be used to think with. Teach them to think because you can not protect them from themselves for their whole life. I do not think the government can either.

I agree with mama06, toys are toys, and brains are to be used to think with. Teach them to think because you can not protect them from themselves for their whole life. I do not think the government can either.

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Very well said.

I too had a pretty good arsenal of toy guns when I was younger; an electric blue Mp5 w/orange muzzle (I know, I know... ), a mac-10, 1911, 92f, realistic plastic M-16, a PG-only shottie, and many more.

Toys for PC Tots will not be recieving any donations from me until this policy is changed.

Just in this morning's news I saw that some pshrinks came out with a study that said fairy tales like "Cinderella" and "Snow White" are bad for kids because they rely on sexual stereotypes - that makes them bad for the little kids' psyches.

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My oldest daughter saw that this morning. She will be 17 on the 8th and part of her homeschool is to watch different morning 'news' shows and comment on them. (She also has to read a newspaper and check out a few Internet news sites each day.)

Anyway, her take on this was pretty insightful, IMO. She said that one woman had remarked that Beauty and the Beast was not a good movie for young girls because it focused on image. My daughter thought that the woman making the comment was a moron because she couldn't understand that B&TB focused more on teaching children to look for the inner beauty in others.

After all, Belle was not at all attracted to the town's hunk because she saw him for the narcissistic clod he was. Also, Belle was a devoted daughter and an avid reader. Aren't these the qualities that we would like to instill in our children?

Belle was a devoted daughter and an avid reader. Aren't these the qualities that we would like to instill in our children?

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Not according to the left.

They'd rather indoctrinate your kids with all maner of crap that I won't bother listing.

And the LAST thing the left would ever have you or your kids do is think for yourselves.

Welcome to THR!

I hesitate to comment on the way I feel about the whole Liberal inspired notion that toy guns are bad and must be abolished. Being a child of the Fifties, if you didn't have and play with toy guns, you would have been ostracized. The majority of my generation grew up on "Cowboys and indians" and "Cops and Robbers", and as has been stated here, we have yet to kill anyone. IMO, the only valid reason to even consider doing away with toy guns would be to prevent some paranoid, jack booted, shaved headed, Rookie LEO (or veteran BATF) from making a snap decision to shoot some 8 year old because "THE GUN LOOKED SO REAL" With limited exceptions , a toy gun looks like a toy gun I have yet to see a toy AR 15 that looks that realistic. Size is usually the giveaway, and most of them would not pass muster on anything more than a cursery glance.

Some pellet guns, notably CO2 pistols do bear a remarkable resemblance to real ones, however I do not consider these to be toys and should be treated accordingly. As for me, I will not be giving to Toys For Tots.

Perhaps Toys for Tots isn't so much anti-gun as they are worried that too many parents will neglect to teach their children why real guns shouldn't be treated the same as the toy version. Considering how many ‘guns are ick' antis, sheep, and idiots are out there, this is a valid concern IMHO.

That said, I think toy guns and kids running around ‘shooting' bad guys with them builds on the concept of good guys vs bad guys, and helps show that they are the tool of both sides, not just the evil ones.

My grandson is only 11 months old and my wifes sister has already bought him a toy AR-15 and AK-47. She certainly knew how to pick the right kid. I think they are a hoot.
I also played with toy guns when I was young. Now I play with real guns and have NEVER hurt anyone.

Jim Hall

Somehow I survived years of playing soldier and cowboys and indians and I was always able to differentiate between real and toy guns . I was shooting real ones at 7 or 8, and at 61 I haven't shot anyone yet.... As for plastic guns that are bright colors to identify them as toys - some paint the plastic ones to look real and some paint the real ones to look plastic !

Did anyone happen to see the shows about John F Kennedy last week or so? There was one segment which showed him and little John playing on the White House lawn. Little John was actually playing with a toy AR15 rifle. Boy how things have changed!

If playing with toy guns was as destructive as some would think, the east coast would be the only populated area in the U.S.. Personally, I still don't know how James Arness- Matt Dillon(Gunsmoke) and Richard Boone-Pallidin (Have Gun Will Travel) lasted so long. I KILLED them every week!!! Sheese!

All my friends and I played with toy guns when we were little. No one has turned into a psycho, mass murder or other violent criminal. All turned out to become normal and responsible adults.

Toy guns -- bad for kids?