Do you allow kids to point toy guns at people?

[Skribs]

I grew up playing with nerf guns, squirt guns, and I even had an at-home laser tag set (unfortunately we only had 2 guns and 2 vests, so we could only ever do 1-on-1 with that). Even the Army points their guns at each other when doing MILES training.

As long as you make it clear how to tell the difference between a toy gun and a real gun, I don't see the problem with it. IMO, it's the same concept as kids roughhousing, or as students sparring in a martial arts class.

 

[friscolatchi]

No, you do not point a gun at anyone, including pets but OK when playing Army. This is told to all participants, ie, my kids friends that have families that do not use firearms.

 

[ghoster]

My Kids are 3-21 and there are dozens of toy guns around. There are dosens of real guns around too.

There have never been any problems as my kids and their friends have been taught that the real guns are to be left alone.

we play lots of play gun games including the occasional UPS and mail man; they get a kick out of a 3 and 4 year old with 40 round nerf tommy guns laying down containment fire for the bigger ones with the long range missle launchers - I believe the single missle bouncing off the hood for a range test is a give away that an assult is imminent.

The middle ones simply ask to go shooting and we go to the creek and practice on a virety of targets with an assortment of guns.

I have several very good hunters for kids and the bigger ones have their own guns now which are in racks in their rooms just like mine were.

Guess my dad was on to somthing by teaching us to obey rules and to respect other people when out in public as I use the same methods and have never had a problem.

Political correctness goes out to the feilds along with the other manure.

AAHHHHHH life is good on the farm.

 

[mcdonl]

Of course I allowed my kids to point toy guns at each other. What kind of a nanny wouldnt?

In my neighborhood kids still play manhunt with paintball, laser guns or airsoft. All of them also have deer rifles, .22's and shotguns. It is silly to think a normal kid would not know the difference.

 

[silicosys4]

^^There are plenty of adults who know the difference and have ND's. There are accidental shooting deaths almost daily by adults who know what a real gun is. This isn't about whether a kid knows what a real gun is. Its about poor habits ingrained into them by their time playing with toy guns, and accidents happening as a result of those habits transferring over to a person's handling of real guns when they have access to them as adults.

 

[mcdonl]

^^There are plenty of adults who know the difference and have ND's. There are accidental shooting deaths almost daily by adults who know what a real gun is. This isn't about whether a kid knows what a real gun is. Its about poor habits ingrained into them by their time playing with toy guns, and accidents happening as a result of those habits transferring over to a person's handling of real guns when they have access to them as adults.

You cant fix stupid. Dont punish the kids who are not stupid because some people are.

That is like saying if you have a go cart you are going to be a bad driver with bad habits. The fact of the matter is, education trumps stupidity. If you allow your children to play with toy guns and pop a cap in the occasional olde English are you just need to counter it with EDUCATION on how to handle a real firearm. I would be willing to bet you a red rider cap gun that most of the idiots who have ND's and other accidents had them because of a lack of education, not because they played with guns as kids.

 

[silicosys4]

How would it be punishing "smart" kids by asking the parents of other "stupid" kids to teach proper gun etiquette, safety, and handling to their "stupid" children? The "stupid" children become "smart" children as soon as they stop treating real guns with the same indifference towards safety as they do toy guns?

I take offense that you would term "stupid" kids as kids who's parents would choose to avoid educating them about firearms, or have otherwise missed out on that knowledge. This is not a child's fault and is not an indication of their intelligence. I wouldn't put you behind the wheel of a car without any training and expect you to drive flawlessly. This is essentially what society is doing with young adults when their parents don't teach them firearm safety, but they are interested in owning and using firearms. Desire and ability without knowledge.

People who are not familiar with firearms are not "stupid". I have many family members who know next to nothing about guns and they get along just fine, make lots of money, and have lots of friends, and some who have retired peacefully and died peacefully.

I'm one of those "kids" who is paying the price for other peoples stupidity via ridiculous gun ownership laws. I wouldn't punish kids, I would punish parents. I would like to see parents taking responsibility, turning out less "stupid" kids so that us smart ones don't have to pay for their negligence.

 

[mcdonl]

I'm one of those "kids" who is paying the price for other peoples stupidity via ridiculous gun ownership laws. I wouldn't punish kids, I would punish parents. I would like to see parents taking responsibility, turning out less "stupid" kids so that us smart ones don't have to pay for their negligence.

Whatever. I guess my kids are above average as they managed to play with toy guns AND be responsible firearms owners.

Yet again, my kids are smarter than most.

No since arguing this any further.

 

[silicosys4]

Mcdonl....Nobody is arguing that most people do just fine with firearms.
Yet accidents happen. Not to you, or anybody related to you, apparently...but

to a 4 year old who hasn't been told better, a s&w 36 looks alot like this



and when they point it at their little brother its only supposed to go pop....just like always...but sometimes that's a model 36 that was in the sockdrawer...and it doesn't just go "pop". I'm glad you took the time to educate your children so this shouldn't happen.

You'd be surprised how many people have 4 year olds and guns, and don't educate their kids. To those people, guns are one of two things: terrible, for adults only, too dangerous for kids to even know about, or just a toy, not even the same thing. There is a disconnect in those people. Those are people who don't think twice about letting their children point toy guns at other people because their children are so smart, they could never have an accident...or that they could NEVER have found that gun, it was hidden so well... I'm glad you aren't one of them.

 

[Cee Zee]

I think we are becoming to politically correct.

Ain't that the truth. It's funny how every generation in the history of mankind allowed their children to play with toy guns and there were never massive problems with kids turning into mass murderers. But now with all our PC rules we seem to have created the very monster we tried to prevent. Kids are going nuts with guns all over the place compared to times past. It's insane people.

This stuff about imprinting spaces associated with new things might work for cats but it's not something my wife ever mentioned. She got the psychology award at the college we attended because she never made anything but an A in any of her classes. Imprinting is something that has only been demonstrated to occur with newborns as far as people go. It doesn't matter anyway. We started playing "war" when we were big enough to walk and nobody I know has ever gone off shooting a bunch of people. It is a proven fact that taking the mystery out of something makes it less appealing to little children. If they see a shiny object they aren't allowed to touch they want to know why so they grab it to find out why.

We can't change human nature that easy despite what the PC crowd would have us think. We have examples of that everywhere. We gave up physical punishment because of Dr. Spock. The result was a generation of kids that didn't respect anything including themselves. We replaced God with Maslow and Rogers and we got a generation of people that think if it feels good go ahead and do it. That led to massive amounts of VD including some new ones that are just horrendous. Look up genital warts and you'll see what I mean.

We seem to think we can re-write the whole human condition just by the force of our will. We throw away lessons learned over thousands of years in favor of theories that don't seem to pan out. That's generally how major civilizations begin their slide into destruction. I could give examples but this isn't history class. It does seem to be amateur hour for psychology. In fact most of the baby boomer generation has played that game all their life. The result has been drug addiction, AIDS and other STD's, gangs, and yes mass murder. It's worked out so very well that we thought we were so much smarter than the whole of history. This is just another example.

 

[theautobahn]

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.

To me, this runs the SERIOUS risk of teaching your kids that any gun found at home is a "toy" as "real" guns are only found at the range.

As the father of a four year old who is big-time into guns at the moment, I'm torn on this. He's all about "shooting" this or that, including people. I'm not ok with that and tell him "we never shoot people". When he's a little older (another year or so, I would guess) and can tell the difference between real and fake/toy, then we can start having fun with the Nerf-type products.

 

[USAF_Vet]

If we have done our jobs right as parents, we've engrained the proper mindset into our children concerning guns. My kids, with toy guns in hand have the proper mindset, it's a toy and we are having fun. With a real gun in hand, they are of a completely different mindset. They know it is deadly serious and their attitude reflects that.

The only time I don't want them pointing toy guns at people is if those people are not involved in their games. If they are playing, then they are fair game.

Also, my kids don't have access to the real guns.

If someone happens to leave their gun out in the open and an uneducated, unsupervised child picks it up, I don't blame the child.

 

[holdencm9]

I don't have kids, but can reflect on my experience.

We played war and toy guns ALL the time. We used anything as a pretend gun....an actual toy gun, a broken super-soaker, a hockey stick...heck, wrapping paper tubes became bazookas! We ran around the yard fake-shooting, fake-dying, etc.

I stepped up to a "toy" crossbow that shot little suction cup darts. I knew, my parents made it clear, that that thing could do some damage if it hit you in the eye, and if I was caught aiming at my brothers, it would be gone and never come back. That didn't stop me from shooting it at the TV! (Back when we had CRTs with their thick glass that could handle it, and not flat-screens).

Then I upgraded to BB gun. That was serious business! It could break the skin! It could take out an eye. It could kill...things. And you're darn sure I never aimed that thing at the TV. I treated it as a real gun for all practical purposes, except that I was allowed to shoot it outside unsupervised.

Then at age 12 came the .22. And essentially to me, it was a super lethal killing machine and I treated it with the utmost respect. Which is how any kid should view ANY gun. Of course, I still played with nerf guns, up to and including college. But by that point, age 12, I had the hunter safety course, and with a stepped, "tier" system, if the difference between a toy and the real deal isn't plain as day, something is wrong with either the kid or the parents.

 

[click clack]

Im sure everyone on here did it as a child and some time or another, and you along with the rest of us turned out a responsible gun owner... Right? And I know as soon as I was introduced to real firearms I ditched the toys and wanted to learn how to really shoot!

 

[Carl N. Brown]

As a child American author H.P. Lovecraft played cops'n'robbers with his playmates. Most had toy guns, but Lovecraft had his grandfathers .32 revolver (without live ammo).

Me and my playmates restaged WWII running across the neighborhood in the 1950s with toy guns; I had a Mattel Thunder Burp "tommy gun". For WWI reenactments I had a flat can nailed to an old baseball bat as a Lewis gun and a twisted tobacco stake as a Springfield.

I shoot my first .22 when I was six under parental supervision, and had it impressed on me that real guns are not toys.

 

[mljdeckard]

The army does use MILES gear (which is somewhere between worthless and less than worthless most of the time,) but when you use it, the rifle is fitted with a BFA, which on a token level at least, renders it unfireable and marks it as a 'non-gun'. There have been times when I have done training that requires pointing rifles at each other, and I have requested that everyone remove their BCG. The best way is to issue rubber duckies, but these are in inexplicably short supply. But yes, the army in general is all too willing to tell people; "Don't point it at anyone, except NOW is ok." I think this leads to bad habits and complacency.

 

[Trueno]

^^There are plenty of adults who know the difference and have ND's. There are accidental shooting deaths almost daily by adults who know what a real gun is. This isn't about whether a kid knows what a real gun is. Its about poor habits ingrained into them by their time playing with toy guns, and accidents happening as a result of those habits transferring over to a person's handling of real guns when they have access to them as adults.

Contrary to what you might've read on the DU or at Brady/VPC, I haven't seen and doubt we will ever see a rampant epidemic or blood in the streets due to "habits transferring over".

t

 

[Rembrandt]

The boys in this photo were flagrant pointers of toy guns, they pretended to shoot other people and spent hours screaming, yelling, running, and using their imagination.

Today both are avid gun collectors and firearm instructors, one is a city councilman, the other is a director for several shooting organizations. Both are successful business men that have introduced firearms to multitudes of youngsters.

Childhood goes by so quickly.....kids should enjoy it while they can. Adulthood and the responsibilities of such will come soon enough.

 

[Trueno]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



Same here, never did hard time or shot anyone in the face...

 

[r1derbike]

tarosean, I agree! I miss those roll cap guns. That's all we had, as kids. I got a BB gun when I was 8. Set up target shooting, hunted birds, you name it. Guns were American culture. I graduated to air rifles, then powerful air rifles, then powderburners. I never remember pointing anything at anyone if it fired a projectile, except once. I didn't have to pull the trigger, but was thisclose.

I couldn't sleep for two days because of the adrenaline overload, and the realization that I could have ended a life, that wanted to end mine. You don't forget things like that.

I believe a level of maturity naturally comes at some age, and with proper adult guidance, will lay the foundation for safe firearm handling.

That was then. I have seen enough video game, reality disconnected personalities to just shake my head and leave, if unsafe handling of firearms is involved, either at a store, range, wherever.

My .02.

 

[warnerwh]

My 3 brothers and myself as well as the rest of the neighborhood played cowboys and indians as well as cops and robbers. By the time we were in our teens we were all using real guns and would go to the woods by ourselves.

I can remember teaching my youngest brother how to use firearms when I was a kid. I was first and foremost teaching him safety. It was drummed into him thoroughly. Didn't take long either that we knew we were safe around him even though he was 9. He could even go elsewhere by himself when we were all in the woods.

Apparently pointing toy guns at one another when we were very young didn't have the slightest negative effect on us.

 

[r1derbike]

I had a Mattel (I think that is who made it) Sonic Blaster, shoulder fired Bazooka that shot a huge ball or whatever of compressed air. it was loud, and when it hit, if felt like a huge puff of wind in the face. I ran off more interlopers with that thing, than I remember.

I'm 57, and wish I had something like that to amuse my wife while she is bent-over doing dishes...



The kid is actually practicing holdover, as the elevation quickly dropped once the air left the muzzle.

 

[mcdonl]

haha r1derbike... he is too young to be overcompensating isnt he?

 

[leadaddict]

Yes, my kids shoot each other (and me) all the time with various toy guns. We also fight with toy swords, drive recklessly with our play cars, crash our imaginary air planes, and blow things up with our play bombs.

I do have a couple of airsoft guns that I use for teaching proper gun handling and respect. We always treat those as 'real' firearms. My kids are currently between 18 months and 9 years old. The 9 year old shoots several .22's with me on a regular basis and he seems to have a good grasp on the difference between and toy and the real thing.

The only danger I see is the possibility of developing bad muscle memory habits with muzzle control and finger discipline, but I haven't seen that in my kids yet. I do occasionally encourage good habbits with those two things (try not to sweep the good guys and get your finger out the trigger guard when not firing) when playing toy guns with them, but not often and never made a big deal about it.

 

[chicharrones]

Us adults and kids still shoot each other with Nerf guns, water guns, and laser tag guns. Good times.