Not a gun owner... and not "anti" gun

Rod,

I did not imply that toy guns make killers. What concerns me about toy guns is the ability of the child to differentiate between the toy and the real McCoy. And also to know the difference in potential between the two. My father took great care in showing me the potential for harm of a firearm. How many children play with toy firearms who have never seen a real weapon? Then they are over at a friend's house and find one and boom. That is the scenario which concerns me.
 
Hi, Spartacus,

I'm not trying to belittle you or your concerns. I can only say that I always knew the difference between toys and the real thing, though my family had no guns when I started playing with them in my preschool days. It also hasn't been a problem with anyone else I have known personally.

As you indicate, proper training is the key. Peace.
 
Rod,
When we were kids, toy guns looked and felt like toys, and real guns looked and felt like the real thing. With technology advancements, today we have toys that look real and real that look toy-like. I remember that it was shortly after toymakers started making real looking guns in bright, toy colors that some refinishers started offering finishes in bright, toy colors for firearms. Sometimes I think there are some idiots in the industry... It is an issue for concern. Ever held a Smith 319? I had cap pistols that felt more solid than it does. How about polymer framed guns?

Geared Up: My daughter also has ADD. It can be handled, although it took us a while to figure it out. In her particular case, I'm glad she doesn't have much interest in guns. I think she has too much impulsivity coupled with anger, although it has gotten better with the passage of time. Maybe in a few more years...This is completely an individual judgement call on the part of the parents. No one knows -your- kids better than -you-. Good luck.

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Shoot straight regards, Richard
The Shottist's Center forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=45acp45lc
 
Geared Up: As a generalization about raising kids (Only one, for me, but he's made it to age 36 with no notable screwups): I believe that if you make less of an issue of guns, and a bit more of an issue of "I learned some new facts, and they made me change my mind", you'll be ahead.

It lays groundwork for future mind-changing on other issues. It also teaches the kid that knowing facts is important, in his own decision-making...

FWIW, Art
 
This is a very exciting thread to me for one main reason: I have never seen a thread on any gun forum with so many women (moms even!) rationally discussing and sharing advice about guns. This is way cool!

[This message has been edited by thaddeus (edited July 14, 1999).]
 
Rod..

I don't think Spart and 45King meant to imply toy guns are "bad". From my perspective...I was raised with real guns (in the barn, in the house, etc) basically all over the place. My folks felt that at the earliest age guns had to be shown for what they are and not as toys or objects of fantasy...thus, no toy guns were allowed (except squirt guns). Dad taught me at a very early age and by 10 or 11 I was running around the farm shooting ground squirrels and jacks, unsupervised, as a "chore". Worked well with myself and my brother, so I'll do the same with my little one

(Damned invisible thread! ;))
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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"




[This message has been edited by DC (edited July 14, 1999).]
 
DC and all,

I seem to be in the minority on the toy gun issue, but, I reiterate, I started shooting and hunting jackrabbits on my relatives' ranch at about seven. This was with a .22 rifle. I played with toy guns both before and after that and never had any trouble differentialting between the two that I can recall--one was the real thing and deadly and the other was for fun and fantasy. It was as simple as that.

I have never mistaken my Glock for a toy and can't imagine that anyone else would who had a thimbleful of sense.

There were two kids who lived nearby (we lived out in the sticks) who, at about age 13 or 14, about 1 or two years older than I, would take their .22 rifles and hide behind rocks and shoot at one another, "like they did in the westerns." When I learned about this, I was appalled. The kid who told me about it explained that it was very safe--"One of us shoots while the other is completely behind the rock. Then he ducks back and the other shoots at his rock!"

These boys were not confused about toys and real guns. I had played with them before (there were only a few neighbors and a few kids out in the country) and they never did anything like that when I was around. This was a matter of attitude and upbringing. I made it a point to avoid being around the two of them as much as possible after that.

I'm not trying to be argumentative or hard to get along with about this, I just have a totally different perspective, both from my own childhood and from helping to raise a small child who appears to have had the same perceptions.
 
Isn't that a great thing about America? Totally different perspectives allowed to be felt and expressed.

You can raise two separate children exactly alike, and those two kids will grow up somewhat different. Some kids have that extra gene from birth that gives them more common sense, some kids have to learn it, and some never get it. I'm still trying to figure out if I ever got it...

Anyway, what's best for my kid may not be best for yours or the neighbor's, and might not even be best for the other one of my own kids. Babbling here... but I think you get my point.

Geri Weaver
(still appreciative of all the feedback)

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BlackHawk Authorized Dealer (BAD) - "Better than catalog" prices & free shipping http://www.geardup.com/gearedup.htm
 
Geri,
From what I see here, I don't think you need to worry about whether or not you got any of the "common sense gene." Seems to me you have plenty. (Jeez, that reminds me of a Gallagher line, when told that baldness was in the genes, he replied, "He**, I've got hair in my jeans, where I need it is on my head!")

Rod, I can't say that I'm opposed to toy guns, just that it can be an issue for concern. I wouldn't worry about any child of mine failing to recognize one, I worry about the children from non-real-gun-but-OK-with- play-gun households visiting gun households where the parents aren't as responsible as they should be. Some people, unfortunately, take the attitude that "if I know it, and my kids know it, everyone knows it." Duh....

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Shoot straight regards, Richard
The Shottist's Center forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=45acp45lc
 
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