Kids & Toy Guns

[Gaucho Gringo]

I was watching an old Twilight Zone episode this morning. It had a girl about 10 years old running around pointing and firing a toy Thompson machine gun at people. How did that get past the nanny patrol and not banned I don't know? It got me thinking boys AND GIRLS both had toy guns when I was kid growing up in the 50-60's and no one gave it a second thought. They were safe and rarely ever got abducted, killed or shot. Fast forward to today and it is an intolerable event if a kid even thinks about a gun and kids are abducted,killed and shot today. So much for a safer world without guns. In the picture the one with toy guns is a girl.

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[dwaineshort]

I was watching an old Twilight Zone episode this morning. It had a girl about 10 years old running around pointing and firing a toy Thompson machine gun at people. How did that get past the nanny patrol and not banned I don't know? It got me thinking boys AND GIRLS both had toy guns when I was kid growing up in the 50-60's and no one gave it a second thought. They were safe and rarely ever got abducted, killed or shot. Fast forward to today and it is an intolerable event if a kid even thinks about a gun and kids are abducted,killed and shot today. So much for a safer world without guns.

You forgot the fact that all violent crime is down over 70% in the last 20 years. So is child abduction. I'm also not sure how a toy gun would help? My 2 year old son makes a gun out of anything. We run around the house shooting nerf guns all the time. There tons of toy guns at most major stores. No I wouldn't want my kids playing with my airsoft guns out in the street. They look real and I would understand the hard decision a cop would have to make to protect his own life.

 

[elsie]

Much more dangerous for kids to have toy guns these days. As evidenced by this: Calif. Sheriff's deputies shoot, kill 13-year-old


elsie

 

[SheepDog223]

We don't have any toy guns in our house. Not by any decision or choice, it's just something we havent bought at the store. My 5 and 3 year old girls and my 6 month old son have thier own AR's though. (consecutive numbers) (For the Left fielders reading this who just jumped to the worst case scenario conclusion, the rifles are always locked up and while the kids can ask to see them at any time they do not get to handle them without me in teacher/father mode)

I started them off as soon as they could talk and understand with a flashlight. "Don't point the light at anyone" and "When your pretending it's a gun, all gun rules apply" Do they are not allowed to chew thier PBJ into an "L" and point it at each other.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

Elsie, your name brings back memories of a nice grandmotherly co-worker in a restaurant I used to work in over 45 years ago. Funny how the human brain does it's associations.

 

[MarkAd]

play guns are fun. I still am deadly with a squirt gun.

 

[dwaineshort]

Much more dangerous for kids to have toy guns these days. As evidenced by this: Calif. Sheriff's deputies shoot, kill 13-year-old


elsie

I was a kid in the 80's. I remember seeing on the news kids that got shot because of squirt guns. Your example is kid that got shot because of a gun that looks real. Some airsoft gun work and tear down like their real counter part. Some don't even have pink or orange tips because they are a traing rifle.

 

[Flopsweat]

I was watching an old Twilight Zone episode this morning. It had a girl about 10 years old running around pointing and firing a toy Thompson machine gun at people. How did that get past the nanny patrol and not banned I don't know? It got me thinking boys AND GIRLS both had toy guns when I was kid growing up in the 50-60's and no one gave it a second thought. They were safe and rarely ever got abducted, killed or shot. Fast forward to today and it is an intolerable event if a kid even thinks about a gun and kids are abducted,killed and shot today. So much for a safer world without guns. In the picture the one with toy guns is a girl.

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News didn't get around like it does today. As mentioned, it's actually safer now than it was back then. You just read/hear about it more.

 

[Oklahomie]

I'm a 90's baby and I had quite a collection of toy guns. I miss those old cast metal revolvers you put the plastic things with the......poppy stuff? In them. I used to dress up just to watch old westerns with my dad, Pop guns and all.

 

[simon99]

I am a Gen X kid and I had lots of toy guns growing up. My friends and I would get all amped up on Tab cola and Pop Rocks, watch an episode of The A-Team or a GI Joe cartoon, grab our guns, a few rolls of caps, and head out into the woods to play commando. Its was fun!

Oh, and on the weekends, I go with my dad to the range and shoot real guns.....had my first rifle when I was 7.

 

[Flopsweat]

I'm a 90's baby and I had quite a collection of toy guns. I miss those old cast metal revolvers you put the plastic things with the......poppy stuff? In them. I used to dress up just to watch old westerns with my dad, Pop guns and all.

I had one of those! I'm pretty sure they were around 20 years before you were born.

 

[mpmax]

Disney world really is the happiest place on earth!

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[Oregonhunter5]

We don't have any toy guns in our house. Not by any decision or choice, it's just something we havent bought at the store. My 5 and 3 year old girls and my 6 month old son have thier own AR's though. (consecutive numbers) (For the Left fielders reading this who just jumped to the worst case scenario conclusion, the rifles are always locked up and while the kids can ask to see them at any time they do not get to handle them without me in teacher/father mode)

I started them off as soon as they could talk and understand with a flashlight. "Don't point the light at anyone" and "When your pretending it's a gun, all gun rules apply" Do they are not allowed to chew thier PBJ into an "L" and point it at each other.

I've done this also

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

I had one of these I bought in the late 50's. Very expensive for those days,$4.99 . My allowance was $.25 a week. In today's dollars around $45.00.

 

[razormanxx]

I remember my brother and I having cap guns that looked real, I had a revolver my bro had one with a detachable mag that took cap strips, we would run around the neighborhood no problem. I even took those cap guns to school 7th grade drama class and we had a fake shoot out. We let our teacher know, but I'm sure she didn't inform the whole school. This wasn't that long ago either.

 

[NWGlockgal]

Elsie, your name brings back memories of a nice grandmotherly co-worker in a restaurant I used to work in over 45 years ago. Funny how the human brain does it's associations.

Elsie was my grandmother's name.....not a name you hear anymore unless you are talking about a cow
I agree that letting a kid run around in public with a realistic replica gun is a very dangerous thing now days.

 

[NWGlockgal]

While they didn't bring their rifles to school, I remember a significant percentage of the guys in junior high sitting around talking in class during hunting season about their rifles and ammo and no one thought a thing about it. That wouldn't happen these days.

 

[Sling Blade]

This thread makes me think what a PIA it must have been to be my parents and relatives with me and my cousin shooting cap guns all the time. No wonder they wanted us to go play far, far away!

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

My father told me stories of when he was a child on their ranch.
He and his cousins could ride bikes to the other end of town, shoot bb guns in their creek and camp out for a night or two so long as mom knew. And they were all but 7-10.
Simply a different time back then.

But they too could (at a later teen age) walk around with a rifle or shotgun on the way to another fellas property or even down the road to the creek and no police were called at the sight of a teen with a rifle.

And all that was in California of all places..
They'd just about call the national guard in now.

I dont mind if I see kids playing with toy guns but I do give them hell if they point it at someone who isn't playing. If its a pellet/BB gun (not airsoft) or wrist rocket then I do yell at them and their parent if they shoot any living thing they don't intend on destroying.. But usually the kid is unsupervised so I lecture them on firearms education but in a learning manor until the parent is available. Thats only occurred twice but the kid never points a pellet/BB gun or anything else at a person while Im around again.