National Does Playing With Toy Guns Lead to Later Acts of Gun Violence?

[Joe Link]

Does Playing With Toy Guns Lead to Later Acts of Gun Violence?

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[SA Shooter]

So, no guns and no spankings allowed, eh?

That will create another generation of people who (1) can't defend themselves, (2) will require safe places on every other block, and, (3) will lean heavily on public assistance to survive.

 

[Rickenbacher39]

What?
I've been playing with real guns since I was 8 years old.
I'm one of the most laid back and quiet people you will ever meet.
Then again, it's the quiet ones you have to be careful of............

 

[Jonnyuma]

No.

 

[Member 34319]

Man we had all sorts of cool bubblegum toy guns growing up.

Neighborhood cap gun wars.

Neighborhood Nerf gun wars.

Neighborhood laser tag wars.

Neighborhood B.B. gun wars.

Neighborhood air soft wars.

Even when in middle school we started a paintball arena in a nearby abandoned lot with homemade pallet buildings.

Yep, I grew up to be a menace to society alright.

I imagine so did the countless other kids that lived and played in my childhood neighborhood did as well.

 

[Joe13]

Yea, um no...

I had cap guns, pop guns, water guns, ping pong ball guns, bb guns etc.

Only way I'd consider shooting a human is if I'm in serious danger, especially if my family is with me.



This is like people who play shooter type video games turn violent.

Even if 10 people who did acted out that would be like 0.0000001% of the people that play those games.

Coincidence is not causation.

 

[USMC-03]

Does Playing With Toy Guns Lead to Later Acts of Gun Violence?

I honestly hope so. The capacity for appropriate and just application of violence is a virtue. Good men must be willing and able to face bullies.

At the same time parents must instill a moral foundation within their children beginning at the earliest possible age.

Anyway, I noticed there was no space for comments in the article; did anyone else have better luck?

 

[po18guy]

We played "army" in the 50s and made guns out of tree limbs if we had none. I "shot" my best friends too many times to count. Carried since 1973 and have never (thank God) had to shoot anyone.

Even the researchers are cautious. From the article:

But today, Turner, who moved on from what he calls "hypothetical studies" to studying actual young offenders, cautions against reading too much into his early work. From a practical standpoint, he says, "it would be hard to look at whether playing with guns as a child affected attitudes as an adult."

 

[Joe13]

Media sensationalism of multiple murders with guns causes more of the same...

 

[Medic!]

I played with toy guns as a boy.
But never while hunting.

And I started shooting the brains, guts and lungs out of animals at the age of five.
Also skinned gutted and ate there flesh. [People do eat flesh you know].

Is that violent enough for you?

Yet somehow I've managed to keep my nose clean all these years.
I haven't even had a speeding ticked since I was 17. Weird?

Must have something to do with the fact I was also taught to respect life. Even as I took it.
To not waist meat. Or make something suffer needlessly.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Does playing with toy guns lead to violence...as in "real world" , not pretend . "play" violence...No...as a general rule.

One does however need to teach your children a "respect for life" as Medic stated...and a understanding that what one does with a toy gun , is not necessarily the same actions and behaviors one uses with a real gun.

Andy

 

[DuneHopper]

Terrorism, works only because of fear.

Create children that will fear the firearm.

Create new form of Terrorism.

Simple three step Anti-agenda.

 

[po18guy]

Playing with guns and playing army was our outlet. We had no desire to harm or hurt - in fact we knew it was play-acting in the first place. It was a healthy mental and physical outlet for normally developing boys. That is simply how we are wired and play acting was a beneficial outlet for natural male aggression.

I think that today, many have difficulty separating fantasy from reality. Bloody video games are the worst for developing minds. Instant gratification. Murder without consequences. Indulgence of impulses rather than control of them. Sony has made billions off of them and then blames guns when their violence moves from screen to street.

 

[308]

Does Playing With Toy Guns Lead to Later Acts of Gun Violence?

No, social engineering and pharmaceuticals do.

 

[Joe13]

Bloody video games are the worst for developing minds. Instant gratification. Murder without consequences. Indulgence of impulses rather than control of them. Sony has made billions off of them and then blames guns when their violence moves from screen to street.

Started playing shooter games with my daughter at the age of 4 or 5. She's about to start her 4th year of college and is on the way to becoming a neurologist.

If billions of people play those games (and they do) then your statement would be justified if we had even millions (or thousands) of the mass murders by guns. We don't so your statement is on par with the ignorance of the article linked in the OP...

Not trying to be rude but I'm guessing you've never played those games and are of a generation that doesn't play console games at all, so my assumption is that you really don't know what your talking about in the second paragraph of your post.

Your first paragraph was well written and applys to a younger generation that had video games available and made playing with friends across town possible - we all know it's a game and not reality.

 

[GUNARCHER]

and dirt clods were grenades and mortar rounds

 

[Caveman Jim]

I would have to say no, definitely not.
I would say that bullying causes more harm then almost anything else as far as crime and besides hate, lust and needing money but too lazy to work for it.

Gun violence is a coined phrase along with assault weapon that the media and politicians back in the nineties came up with.

 

[etrain16]

I still remember the screams as a child as we chased each other with squirt guns. Sure, it seemed fun at the time, until....Jeff got hit in the eye. He went down, screaming in agony as the water seeped beneath his eyelid. None of us knew what to do. We thought we were going to lose one of our own (if his mom saw him crying). We were just kids, too young to deal with this kind of tragedy. But we knew we had to grow up, and fast, so we pooled our collective abilities and told that little POS to get up and stop whining or we'd squirt him again!!!

I imagine that the average anti, who was forbidden such important growth opportunities, imagines what it's like when kids play with guns. Kind of a mini version of Full Metal Jacket, all while grooming the next generation of killers. NOT!

Without doing a study, I feel confident in saying, no, absolutely not, and any reasonable and rational person already knows this.

But if we really want to dig into this, perhaps we need to study the number of kids that were forbidden from playing with guns, or playing cops and robbers, or forbidden from playing any game that simulates violence, such as war or even tag, and let's see how many of them turn out to be violent. I'd be willing to bet, just a hunch here, that more kids that are prevented from enjoying these kinds of typical childhood outlets for their energy and creativity, end up as the aggressors later in life. Would be interesting to see if that's actually true.

Kids have been simulating war, violence, good vs evil since the dawn of time. It's normal. It helps in their formation as functional members of society. There simply is no evidence that playing such games, listening to certain music or watching certain movies leads people to become violent.

I think the bigger issues are that society is collectively teaching kids that lives don't matter (well, some lives, anyway), that personal responsibility is a thing of the past and that actions really don't have consequences, all the while convincing people that the only salvation in life is government.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a rubber band finger gun war to fight with my co-workers

 

[Sniper03]

That is totally ridiculous regarding toy guns! When I was growing up we played Army, Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers. And we went Big Game Hunting for Red Wing Black Birds while our on Safari in the neighborhood with our Daisy Red Rider BB Guns. And later became hunters with real rifles and shotguns for Rabbits, Quail, Pheasants, Fox Ground Hogs and other critters. Not a one of us in the neighborhood ever was in trouble with the law or ended up being a school shooter or criminal. But one has to wonder with our society today will maladjusted kids could it contribute. The problem today is some are kids are totally spoiled. protected, pampered, irresponsible and with no respect for others or respect for life! Issue! Too many parents want to be friends and not parents! IMO.
But with these kids mentioned I think computer games who promote violence has a more detrimental effect on those type kids than any toy gun!
The spend hours and days shooting, blowing up and killing on these games.
Dave Grossman who is one of the top and best lecturers on the phycology of killing states in his lectures. " If only we had these games during Vietnam to train and condition soldiers"! Parents should be intelligent enough today to see the warning signs in certain kids? But they simply do not! Or maybe see it and ignore it due to the task of dealing with it up front!
Society is not at the present heading in the right direction IMO. Unfortunately we are seeing the corruption even in the Government like the FBI for example. Today if anything goes against what they believe in, it becomes almost riot or and anarchist type issue. Not the correct path of dealing with a problem through communication and proper channels. Most I see participating, have no life experience, probably spoiled, living with mom and dad, no job and still wet behind the ears! IMO They should be required to be 21 years of age to vote in a National Election or been in the Military prior to 21 and had some real life experiences like responsibility and a JOB! I guess I am just older and was raised in a different time and was a father of one at 19, renting, working and getting inducted into the US Army. But reimplementing the Draft might not be a bad solution to help with the present issues? The Military will either make you or brake you! But you definitely learn responsibility, discipline, respect and other valuable life skills that help you your entire life.
03

 

[Joe13]

That is totally ridiculous regarding toy guns! When I was growing up we played Army, Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers. And we went Big Game Hunting for Red Wing Black Birds while our on Safari in the neighborhood with our Daisy Red Rider BB Guns. And later became hunters with real rifles and shotguns for Rabbits, Quail, Pheasants, Fox Ground Hogs and other critters. Not a one of us in the neighborhood ever was in trouble with the law or ended up being a school shooter or criminal. But one has to wonder with our society today will maladjusted kids could it contribute. The problem today is some are kids are totally spoiled. protected, pampered, irresponsible and with no respect for others or respect for life! Issue! Too many parents want to be friends and not parents! IMO.
But with these kids I think computer games who promote violence has a more detrimental effect on those type kids than any toy gun!
The spend hours and days shooting, blowing up and killing on these games.
Dave Grossman who is one of the top and best lecturers on the phycology of killing states in his lectures. " If only we had these games during Vietnam to train and condition soldiers"! Parents should be intelligent enough today to see the warning signs in certain kids? But they simply do not! Or maybe see it and ignore it due to the task of dealing with it up front. Only my opinion!
Society is not at the present heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, today anything goes against what they believe in, it becomes almost becomes a riot or and anarchist type issue. Not the correct path of dealing with a problem through communication. Most I see participating, have no life experience, probably spoiled, living with mom and dad, no job and still wet behind the ears!
03

Moved out at 17.

Was making 80k a year by 23.

Bought my house at 27.

Have never moved back home.

Started playing castle wolfenstien when I was a teenager (the first shooter) and have played almost every one on multiple systems for over 27 years.

Problem children not being given the attention and Meeting their is the problem, not games.

While we were out playing cowboys and Indians as kids or star wars in the streets, the problem children were dissecting small animals they killed for fun.

It had nothing to do with games, movies, toys etc. It's untreated mental illness and lack of proper parenting more often then not.

Blaming games for violence is the very same thing as blaming guns... It is almost always someone who doesn't really understand it and has never tried it, that points to it as the source of the problem.

We all know how well that has gone over