How do you feel about toddlers and play guns???

Question

My son absolutely loves to play with toy guns, he's usually good about pointing them at the wall or couch (anything but people)....but he enjoys them soooo much, it worries me. If we go toy shopping, a gun is all he wants (he will choose it over anything). Would like some opinions about this or personal experiences.

Answer 1

I have 4 children. Their ages are 27, 24, 21, and 9. When my older 3 were small, I was very adament about never letting them have any play weapons, no guns, knives, swords, etc. Then, along came our little "surprise" baby, who has managed to put a bit of excitement in our lives. She developed quite the obsession with cowboys, ranches, farms, and horses when we went to Texas for a vacation. That was 2 weeks past her 2nd birthday. Her interest in those things is just as strong 7 years later. She loves all things that have to do with farms, ranches, horses, hunting, fishing, and army - quite the little tomboy. She was the one, when we tried to keep guns from her would make her toast into the shape of a gun and pretend to shoot. So, we have taught her appropriate gun safety. Guns are not EVER pointed at people. All weapons have an appropriate place to be kept and must be put away when you are done with them. My husband, son-in-law and a cousin who are all hunters have been teaching her how to hunt responsibly. Like anything else, too much of one thing is not good for anyone. We have encouraged her interest in reading, drawing, arts and crafts, and cooking as well. She has many friends, both boys and girls. A play gun can be a part of a child's play with careful supervision, clear rules, and encouragement in other interests. My brothers, lots of cousins and even I played cops and robbers and cowboys and indians when we were young and not one of us has shot anyone or has been involved in any type of violent behavior. My suggestion is to let him play with the guns, but engage him in other play with other toys as well. Watch for his other interests to start to develop and encourage him in those areas. Very few children grow up to be violent individuals. Those that do are more likely to be loners, feel ostracized, picked on, and disconnected.

Answer 2

I understand where you're coming from, my 2 1/2 y.o. is the same and I had the same mixed feelings. To complicate it my husband is a hunter so my son knows Daddy has a gun so I can't really tell him guns are bad. I thought about it and realized I am just being silly. Kids have had water guns and play guns for ages and it has not created generations of violence. I myself played with many water guns and certainly never had the urge to pick up a real gun and go on a shooting spree. The only situation where I think a toy gun may be bad is if the parent has a real handgun laying around the house that a young child could get their hands on and fire accidentally. If that's the case then those parents have bigger issues than water guns though.

Answer 3

I think toy guns should be banned if they're too realistic looking. I have never liked my kids playing with toy guns, but chances are they're going to play with them at some point in their childhood at a friends place, grandparents, etc. If the toy guns look nothing like the real thing, then I think it's ok. An oversized water gun for example is a harmless toy, but a realistic AK-47 toy is probably too difficult for a child to understand the difference.

Of course nothing takes the place of the parent in teaching your child that it's not acceptable behaviour to point toy guns at people, and teach them the differnece between a toy gun and the real thing. The problem is getting all the other parents out there to be responsible about guns too, that's the scary part.

Answer 4

I have a toddler too, but he has not been exposed to guns yet. I am 34 years old and as a kid guns were something we all played with. If you teach him to be responsible with it, like you described you are doing already, I don't see any problem with it. Like most toys that little ones get into full force, they eventually lose interest and find another thing they absolutely love. So, I wouldn't worry that he will want a career as a sniper or a hit man or anything like that. lol

Answer 5

It depends on how you plan on teaching your child.
My boys were always playing GI Joe and cowboys and Indians, and they were raised around guns, rifles, shotguns, and handguns.
We had them locked up in a gun cabinet, and they were taught about gun safety at a young age, and continuing throughout the informative years.
In today's Society where children on the streets are killing one another over a pair of Tennis Shoes, and have no regard for human life, this has become an Issue amongst many.
My girlfriend lost her son by getting shot in the face, yep, the guy is in Prison, and she got involved with Parents of Murdered Children, her grandson now plays with toy guns, and personally in that instance, I would not allow the guns in my home.
So, I suppose you have to make up your own mind, it is based on the individual experiences, but I don't know how I feel about letting them point at sofa's and walls, (try to think like that child), accidents happen everyday,
Good luck in your decision.....trust your instincts.

Answer 6

My 2 yr old son recently started 'shooting' things. He points his finger and makes the shooting noise. At first I didn't know what it was, then when he would crouch down and close his eye I figured it out. Its not a toy gun it's his finger. It bothers me, but my husband says he is a boy and boys play with guns. I think as long as you teach your child the difference in play and real it should be okay. I don't think allowing a child to play with a gun makes anyone a bad parent, as long as they aren't teaching their child to shoot people.

To the few saying no weapon of anykind. Do your children play video games? Some are very violent, and don't even have guns. One comment was how playing with toy weapons teaches them how to do it if they were real..what about Mortal Kombatl, Shamz? Doesn't it teach to kill with your hands? I would have to say cowboys and indians is far less violent than that video game.

Answer 7

I dont feel a child should play with any type of gun no matter how much they love them or even use their fingers or any object like its a gun because think of it this way your not gonna be around your child every second of his life to watch him what about when he goes to school lets say someone takes a gun to school him thinking its a toy one gets it and it goes off on him or someone else or lets say he goes to a friends house or a sitters house or relatives and sees a gun hes gonna play with it thinking it is a play gun and even if you say oh well he will know the difference from a real one and a fake one but thats not true now a days the fake ones look so real and some real ones look fake and lil like toys so think about that no matter how much he loves the toy guns I know you love him more and wouldnt want nothing to happen to him so stop the gun thing and talk to him that guns are bad and hurt and kill people that they are not nice teach him while he is still small and safe.

Answer 8

When my son was little, he used to love to play "guns". I was a vegetarian and a pacifist, and it horrified me that he would act this out. We would not even buy him toy guns, and he would make a gun out of anything! Just a stick was all it would take. Then he got older, and if he had a roll of tape he could make a gun toy out of anything that he found around the house.

When he was older, his dad got him a pellet gun. He enjoyed making targets to shoot at in the backyard (we lived in the country), and he was a good shot.

Today he is 26 years old, and he loves to hunt. He is very responsible about gun safety, and he is not a street thug out waving a gun around and doing "drive-by" shootings. He is married and has a daughter.

So, all in all, I don't think that you should be too concerned about the fact that your son likes to play with toy guns. What is going to be more important is how you raise him to be a loving, caring human being who respects others.

Answer 9

I don't believe in letting children play with any kind of guns....even my 7 yr old son isn't aloud to...we do buy water lasers / squirts for him in summer but they are never guns....or look like a gun. I grew up with guns and had a shot gun and hunting by time was 12 but first had to go through all sorts of classes before even being able to handle one... when son is older if he wants to try target practice or something he will have to go through all the safety classes first.

Answer 10

It's innate for boys. They will make sticks into guns. They will bit their PB&J into the shape of guns.

You cannot change them!

But, it's a GOOD thing. Boys grow into men, and men serve a role in society.

Don't worry about this. It will pass to something more mild, but don't try to prevent your son from becoming a man. Anyone trying to BAN guns and swors is wasting their time, and harming their children.

The book below is a very important one to understand this: