Do you allow kids to point toy guns at people?

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Play involving toy guns is not what it once was, that's for sure.

In my neighborhood (in the 60s and early 70s) we played a game with no official name in which everyone was out to find and "kill" one kid who was called fugitive and given a head start to flee into a designated zone covering a couple of residential blocks and a 12-acre wooded area. Everyone had a toy gun, mostly designed to resemble revolvers. Anybody the fugitive "killed" first was resurrected and became his ally, but you never knew for sure who was allied with the fugitive.

Not only did we learn a lot about tactics playing this game, we also got in great shape. Sometimes a round would go on for an hour or more, and during that hour we were constantly on the move, and we often did 3-4 miles at speed, since a "kill" was only valid from about 20 feet.

We pointed these pretty realistic guns at each other for hours on end. To date, I've heard of zero of my childhood friends ever confusing a toy gun and a real gun in any way.

And none of us was ever shot by a LEO who thought we were carrying real guns.

Yes, times have changed.
 
I read an article that stated the surroundings will imprint with the lesson. In other words if you show them your gun (real) in the family living room, that room is associated with the firearm and so the kids will think it's okay to have a real fire arm in the living room.
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I'm sorry. I miss your point. It is alright to have a real firearm in the living-room as it is alright in any room I or my wife is in.

And what is this "approved range" thing?
 
I agree with you, beatledog7- gotta let boys be boys. Too bad our ever-PC society is trying to change that.

My boy (4) is already starting to do that, but he can already distinguish between what is a toy (his Nerf gun) and what is "real" and should not be touched (Dad's guns) and he can tell me why.

It's all in how we educate our children- if we expect much from them, they try harder, and we are made proud. If we expect less, then we get that, too.
 
I had toy guns, I made toy guns. I played all manner of now politically incorrect games as as a child. I was raised around real guns and never made a mistake as to which was which.

When I had a daughter of my own I decided guns are not toys and there were no toy guns in our home. She's 20 and in college now, she has never indicated that she was somehow neglected... and by the way, she shoots real guns fairly well.
 
I had mixed rules when growing up. Obviously, running around with my friends shooting nerf guns, airsoft or paintball it was okay to shoot at each other.

But, my parents did not like it if I would make a gun shape with my hand and point, or point toy guns at people that aren't playing around. It was okay to walk around the yard and point at birds and random things, but pointing at people was a no-no.

I think they did a decent job and I easily learned about the differences of playing and making threatening gestures.
 
You should make sure they employ proper trigger discipline and only shoot need guns at paper targets.
 
We violated all four laws, all the time, during our massive neighborhood war games.

And loved every minute of it.

Some of you guys needs to lighten up, geesh.
 
cambeul41 said:
I'm sorry. I miss your point. It is alright to have a real firearm in the living-room as it is alright in any room I or my wife is in.
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The issue is when and where we teach our young the difference between real and toy guns. Not letting them associate the home as a place to have a real firearm is during the initial introduction to real guns. If they are taught that the place to use real guns is at an "Approved Range" then the likely hood of the children getting into the gun while the adult is not present is lowered.

And what is this "approved range" thing?
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Anywhere that you as the adult in charge has approved as the place to handle live firearms. If it's your back yard and it's legal to do so then so be it.

Kids, when they are first learning anything new have to have a controlled environment to learn properly. It is regimentation. We all do it and don't even know it. We do it with our kids and don't realize we're doing it. If we set out to teach our kids to kick a foot ball we don't (under normal circumstances) start to teach them to do it in the formal living room. We do it in the back yard. And by picking the back yard we have given the kid tacit approval to kick the ball around in the back yard.

The same mentality applies to firearms and the home. If the child learns that the proper place to use said firearm is the "approved range" then that is the starting point. Once you have been able to imprint on the child the absolute dangers of the firearm then after the child has proven the lesson has been absorbed then you can move on to the aspect of the gun around the home.
 
Rail Driver said:
I can't agree with the above. I carry a firearm every day. I use firearms every day (even if it's just plinking in the back yard). I could never bring myself to teach my child that it is NOT ok to have a firearm at home. Firearms are a part of our culture and history - Limiting that to an "approved shooting range" is just the beginning of a slippery slope that leads to the demonizing of firearms. Don't get me wrong, I understand the safety aspect, but if the 4 rules are followed at all times when handling firearms, the safety aspect of being at an "approved shooting range" isn't an issue.
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I think you misunderstand what I was driving at. When you are first introducing a child to anything new they imprint the surroundings as being the place associated with the "new" thing. If you are introducing a child to football, one would think the living room is not the place to be kicking or passing a foot ball. The back yard will do fine. From that point the child will recognize the place for the foot ball is out side.

Firearms are a thing to be respected under every circumstance. Ingraining that into a child's mind is imperative and needs to be done within a structured environment. I tink we all agree that a cavalier attitude toward guns is a dangerous thing. Introduction, if not handled correctly with rules and limitations can and have lead to disastrous results. How many times have we read a news story of a child shooting his playmate with a gun found around the house? I know, I know, "if the gun was locked up it never would have happened" but I pose to everyone that if the child was taught that there is a place and time the likelihood of this happening could have been reduced also.

Introduction to guns to someone else's children (I think the OP said it was his relatives kids) can be a very sticky endeavor and it would be best to either not do it or do it under very controlled circumstances. To control a circumstance you are not present for, it is imperative to set designated rules. The rule of "where said action can take place" is a starting point.

By no means was I implying that the home is no place for a gun. On the contrary. If it is your home and your children and you choose to introduce / expose your children to the pleasure of the shooting sports. that is your choice. I was referring to the situation the OP presented as it not being his children or his home.

The last thing I need is my children growing up thinking it's not perfectly acceptable to have firearms in the home, even in the livingroom. I want my children to be prepared for the world as it is, not as I hope it will be, and wish it would be.
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Again, your home, your children, your rules. The approved shooting range statement seems to have thrown a lot of readers. I used to live on a 125 acre homestead. The "back yard" was the approved shooting range when I was raising my son. He's grown and on his own but as we moved around the approved shooting range changed from the back yard to the farmers field (with his permission) down the lane and onto the shooting club I belong to.But every location was approved for the use of the firearm. It was approved by the land owner, by me and by the local laws.
 
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Point your finger and go bang, ok. Use some odd looking disk or foam launcher, ok. Use or play with anything that looks like or could be remotely confused for a gun, and we have crossed into the danger zone. Why, because someone could confuse it for a real gun, orange tip or not (shadows, bad lighting, a fleeting glance), it is no longer the 50's, 60's or the 70's, and the results could be undesirable. Also, I wanted my children to know that guns are dangerous, not bad, and if you saw one other than in a safe situation for doing so, don't wait to find out if it's real or OK, it is the time to quickly and discretely leave. Taught my kids to shoot starting at 5yrs. (all now CC), and I'm now teaching my grandkids. Guns are not bad, people are and misunderstandings can happen quickly so avoid those behavioral danger zones (remember, today, even some "kids" are armed). Toy guns, unfortunately, need to treated as though they are real in today's perilous and somewhat unstable society.
 
SouthernYankee said:
Point your finger and go bang, ok. Use some odd looking disk or foam launcher, ok. Use or play with anything that looks like or could be remotely confused for a gun, and we have crossed into the danger zone. Why, because someone could confuse it for a real gun, orange tip or not (shadows, bad lighting, a fleeting glance), it is no longer the 50's, 60's or the 70's, and the results could be undesirable. Also, I wanted my children to know that guns are dangerous, not bad, and if you saw one other than in a safe situation for doing so, don't wait to find out if it's real or OK, it is the time to quickly and discretely leave. Taught my kids to shoot starting at 5yrs. (all now CC), and I'm now teaching my grandkids. Guns are not bad, people are and misunderstandings can happen quickly so avoid those behavioral danger zones (remember, today, even some "kids" are armed). Toy guns, unfortunately, need to treated as though they are real in today's perilous and somewhat unstable society.
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...and sometimes people put orange tips on REAL guns to make them look like toys.

Who was the well known example of this...was it Leonard?
 
As others have said, when we were younger and video games were yet to be invented, we played cowboys and indians in the yard. We did point sticks and fingers at one another unless we were lucky enough to have toy guns. We survived.
I think we are becoming to politically correct. They are toys. As long as they know the difference. If they don't know, either they are to young, or else.......somewhere not to go here.
I start taking my grand kids to range about age 4 so they do not fear the noise. Start them with 22s. Ages now are 5months to 9years. They do have toy guns and whats said is " its ok since its a toy" and "never do that with a real one".
Now the older kids tell that to the younger ones. I have 6 grandkids and 3 kids of my own. I have a gun room for storage and reloading and lots of one on one time is spent there.
Real gun handling is better taught at the range. Hard to explain backstop and barrel direction to a 4 or 5 year old in the house.
Too each thier own and this is my 2 cents. Bob
 
for play it´s fine.

I sometimes see lil kids with mini-AR15s in public and their parents not giving a f...

When a kid of any age points a toy gun a me and plays shooting, i inform the parents to stop it, or i will stop by breaking it.

It´s about parenting and respect. Toyguns don´t annoy people, people annoy people.
 
Yep and even in my 40's Ill get down and play some of those not so PC games with her toting her pathetic pink revolvers! kinda miss those old Pot Metal roll cap guns...
 
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Guns are not toys.
I don't even allow 'toy' guns in my house.
More importantly, i taught my sons at young ages the capabilities and results of amunition of all kinds. We didn't just shoot fruits and veggies, we shot birds and animals.
They also learned at early age to bring all of thier curiosities and questions to me.
I was a gunsmith at the time so i had at hand all that was needed to teach them whatever they wanted to know.
I've always, and still do, believe that 'toy' weapons, not just guns, lend to pique a child's curiosity of the real thing.
I have a grandson, 9 y/o,who's 'parents' refuse my house rule of no toy guns and continualy allow him to bring them to family functions and stick them in anyone's face at will. I had to unfortunately tell them that the boy is no longer welcome here until they comply.
Oh yeah, his 'dad' is a cerified firearms instructor.
 
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