Do you let your kids play with "toy" guns?

[E5RANGER375]

yes. she plays with toy guns. ok this next part may appall some of you but I also let her play in the dirt and with bugs. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the HUMANITY!

 

[BlueEagle]

Ranger, that kids a menace. She's going to grow up and be a serial killer. Dirt AND guns AND bugs? I'm moving further away from you....

 

[jeremy]

yes. she plays with toy guns. ok this next part may appall some of you but I also let her play in the dirt and with bugs. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the HUMANITY!

Are we related?!

 

[buford t justice]

My boys were hooked on john wayne movies from about the age of 4.
They begged for toy guns for birthday, christmas ,and about any time we were in a store that sold em.
By the time they were 10 they could have supplyed every kid in the county with a toy gun.

True Grit was on of their favorites,one afternoon to my wifes horror Nathan at about 5 or 6 years old,stood up on the couch pulled both pistols from his holsters and points at the tv and recites right along with John Wayne,FILL YOUR HAND YOU S.O.B

 

[96firephoenix]

My parents made sure to explain the difference between real ones and toys.

before the toys, we used our forefinger and thumb with mouth-sound-effects.

 

[beararms1776]

Sure. My son had cap guns the same as I did growing up.

 

[hoosierdoc]

I have just as much fun shooting up the kids as they do me.

the last season of Top Shot,
The final four or so were given nerf guns and they played like boys for hours. These are top marksmen, former military.

My nephews get mad because i don't want put down their nerf gun with a drum magazine. More kick than a 22 and won't accidentally fire like a glock (couldn't help it)

 

[jmiller676]

I had a ton of nerf guns when I was younger and at birthday parties I was a walking war machine. The difference is I knew what real guns were and what toy guns were.

 

[jgreiner]

I just watched the what happens when you don't use hollows video. I have also noticed my little cousin who is 6 always gets toy guns. I think we all probably did when we were kids. But do you buy them for your own kids now?

I do not have childern yet myself...But I think that I want them to take it seriously. Even when they tell him not to point at people he still does and rarely is anything ever said. I think that I just want my kids to take it very seriously. That its not a toy maybe kids just need to be kids I don't know.

My son and I played laser tag a lot when he was younger. yes he had toy guns.

Now he shoots with me.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

As a child in the 50s growing up in the Chicago suburbs, we didn't have firearms in the house, but, like others here, I had my share of toy guns, and I would make a gun out of just about anything. Twenty-something years later, my son and I played with his toy guns around the house. I also had working firearms around the house. He had no trouble telling the difference between the two.

I will say that unsupervised kids probably shouldn't have toy bows and arrows; I managed to shoot a friend in the eye with one of those suction-cup-tipped arrows. Never saw the bow & arrow again...(the guy I shot in the eye whipped my butt later on)

 

[DarkRose]

Was never allowed to play with toy guns as a kid, so naturally I always went to friends' houses that did and we "played guns" there. We had real guns around, always locked up, and I was shooting pellet guns around 6 probably... Always knew the difference between real and fake.

Always thought I wouldn't get toy guns for my son, he's 4 now, and like so many other have mentioned, he'll make anything into a gun, legos, sticks, fingers, toy planes, whatever. I might as well give in and get him one that looks right, so I can teach him right.

 

[jwhite]

I dont have any kids.. But i would if i did.. And i would also teach them about real guns and toy guns.. so they would know the difference..

 

[amhenry]

My daughter's too young to play with guns yet, but I certainly did when I was a kid, and my younger brothers do as well.

My dad is a carpenter, and my friends and I used his workshop to make all kinds of guns when we were 8-12ish. We made handguns, light machine guns with bipods and detachable magazines... Even a sniper rifle with a removable suppressor. It was pretty sweet. We usually played out in the woods, so I don't remember receiving much in the way of safe gun handling skills, but we all definitely became familiar and comfortable with the various parts and functions of our weapons.

Now that Airsoft is very common, my younger brothers play with those, and that provides a great opportunity to teach gun handling and safety. Because all the parts move, and pointing at someone can be dangerous, the play, while fun, isn't entirely play, it's also very serious.

 

[Kart29]

When I was a kid, toy guns were the only toys I ever wanted for birthday or Christmas. Every year the same thing - toy guns and more toy guns. I really do think I learned alot about safe gun handling - especially an innate, automatic sense of muzzle control from years and years of playing with toy guns.

My three year old has a couple of toy guns. I quiz him every so often on the different parts of a his toy Win 94. Then I quiz him on the safety rules. He knows to always check the action for cartridges and then treat the gun as if it were loaded, keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire, and never point the muzzle at anyone you don't want to kill. I know there's more safety rules than that but he's only three and that's a good start so far.

He's already helped hold a .22 pistol while we shot targets in the back yard and he's had an object lesson of hearing the loud report and seeing the damage a bullet can do to an apple.

He's little, but he's not stupid. He knows the difference between a real gun and a toy. Do I trust him with a real gun???? NO!!! He knows for sure he's going to get the spankin' of his life if he ever touches one of my guns when I'm not there to show it to him. And he also knows that anytime he wants to look at my guns, all he has to do is ask and I'll be happy to show it to him and let him hold it and explore it while we go over the safety rules another time.

I just saw an old friend this past weekend. Her son had never had any training with firearms. His dad never had guns or taught him how to shoot them. He was a good kid and when he was 18 years old he went and bought a .22 rifle and took it out squirrel hunting - all by himself, no other kids with him, no alcohol or drugs. He had a license and safety orange. And somehow he managed to shoot and kill himself. Happened just last fall. His dad can't stop blaming himself for having never taught his son good gun safety practices. True story.

Get your kids some toy guns and start teaching them what they need to know NOW. Before it's too late.

 

[dieselman]

giving my kids toy guns will teach them plastic guns are okay. when i take them to pick out their first gun they are gonna want a glock...

 

[joemich1911]

I think it's a different age for kids these days. When I was a kid we all played cops and robbers, all in play. These days the kids are so desensitized to the consequences in life and allieved of all responsibility I think it takes a little more responsibility from the parents and adult influences to guide these kids in a safe direction. What do people expect when they see there ''idols" getting arrested and no punishment given?

 

[Mr. Neal]

Do I !? Not only do I encourage him too.. I took my 2 and a half year old shootings a few weeks ago to get him frimiliar with fire arms and being around them. He sees dad carrying his gun on him so he sticks his little plastic six shooter in his pants to carry it around too, so I figured it was time we shot the ol ruger .22 revolver he watched me shoot a few dozen and helped me load them. I even let him assist me in holding the gun and pulling the trigger. He was a little scared but enjoyed it after a few shots. Some might see this as irresponsible but I think showing him what the are capible of doing at that age, he will respect them in the future. Until then daddy keeps them locked up for his own good =)