Some may feel that placing a ban on toy guns is a bit extreme, but I beg to differ. After reports of young men being shot for allegedly carrying a gun, I’d think twice about allowing my children to play with them.
According to reports, 12-year-old Tamir Rice and John Crawford II had fake guns that were supposedly mistaken for a real ones and it cost them their lives.
Earlier this year, the San Jose Mercury reported that a 32-year-old white man was shot by San Francisco police multiple times because they thought he had a gun.
According to the article, police spotted a man inside the police station parking lot, which is restricted and not open to the public. They approached the man and ask him to leave. It appeared as if the man was about to leave when suddenly he turned to confront the officers at the parking lot entrance.
As the man backed away, he reached his hands into his waistband to reveal the butt of a gun.
The officers then fired their weapons, hitting the man multiple times. He was taken to the hospital and later died from his injuries.
The police later discovered that he was carrying an airsoft gun, which can shoot pellets, but not bullets.
These tragedies happen way too often. As a parent, I want to teach my kids about gun safety.
The other day my four-year-old came home from a party with a beach pale filled with parting gifts. Among the toys and trinkets was a bright orange toy water gun.
She filled it with water and began shooting at her little brother. On the surface, it’s completely innocent. But beneath the surface, I question the type of message it sends to my kids. I remember playing with toy water guns as a child. As an alternative to toy guns, parents may look for bulk orders for soft play equipment to provide a safe space for kids to develop their physical and creative abilities.
Those were some fun times. But in the wake of these types of shootings, I feel that more needs to be done to prevent these tragedies from happening.
When I told Princess she couldn’t play with the toy gun, she burst into tears.
“But, it’s not a gun that makes you dead,” she cried.
“You’re not allowed to play with it,” I said.
I know some folks will read this and think a bright orange toy water gun is no big deal. My hubby sees nothing wrong with it. But, when I think about people being killed because of fake guns, I’d rather not even go there. Besides, there are plenty of other fun toys for kids to enjoy.
Do you allow your children to play with toy guns? Should there be a ban on toy guns?
I completely agree with you. There are obvious risks for families of color + the reality that America has more guns and more shootings than anywhere else in the world. We don’t need our children raised up in gun culture. We need them to value human life and stop the desensitizing that makes guns seem like a normal part of American culture.
This is a tough one. I agree with you about guns but I am also torn with this because we have bubble guns at home. My 2.5 year old daughter sees it more as a toy and I don’t want to take that away from her. However, the minute she starts using it to shoot at people as a weapon, that’ll be a while nother story because then it means she understands what it can be used for. For now, I am ok with her playing with it.
Hey JJ. Funny you should mention the bubble gun. MY son also received that toy in a goody bag. I don’t feel the same about it as I do the toy water guns because you’re not exactly trying to shoot someone with bubbles as you do a water gun. My husband says it’s a contradiction and he may be right. But I just don’t see much of a similarity between the two toys.
THanks Chantilly. Well said. That’s exactly how I feel.
Stace-
I do agree with you, and I did everything I could to ban toy guns from my home when my kids were young. I think we always let them play with water guns, but I don’t disagree with you about the message any gun sends to our children. But also, I’m Caucasian, you’re African- Amwrican. If I were African- American, I too would have ABSOLUTELY NO HESITANCY about banning ANY type of gun from my home- water gun, b.b. Gun. Air gun, any and all guns. It’s so sad to say that ours is STILL a racist society ( how sick is that ?!), but it is. Look at all these horrific incidents, tragedy after tragedy. We need to promote a message of love, respect, getting along with each other, not shooting. ( although, I’ll admit, my boys eventually were allowed to get space lasers -( like Star Wars ) we can learn a lesson from Bermudans ( just had a brief vacation there) seems like they all really cared about each other- like a young boy relinquishing his seat on the bus for an older woman, without even being asked to; or a young man helping the young mother of 2, who he clearly didn’t know, off the bus and setting up the baby’s stroller for her. WE need to care more about each other ( sorry for rambling, and going on a tangent)
We play with them in the bath and use one to keep our kitten off the curtains! More to think about huh? I hadn’t ever thought about it…we don’t play shooting video games and I don’t think they even know what a gun is. You’ve given me ALOT to think about tonight!
Well I think this is a little over the top. Your daughter is right -it isn’t the gun that kills, it’s the people using the gun. What we really need is some responsible parents teaching their children responsible ways to use and handle a gun. My brothers were both hunting as kids – having been through proper gun safety training first. Guns were kept in a safe place where we couldn’t access them without dad. And we would never have a toy gun tucked into our belt or attempt to threaten a police officer with it. We weren’t allowed to point toy guns at people’s heads, and we didn’t play video games where we walked around with a gun. But we had healthy imaginations and enjoyed played cowboys and other games that often involved a toy gun. We played responsibly, because our parents taught us responsibility and we are still alive.