Toy gun, viewed innocently or not !

Serendipity22 I’m just picturing the headlines in your local paper. Mask wearing Gangstagranny seen at the cheese counter with gun ! ?

Oh yes, I had a holster, a fringed waistcoat and a cowboy hat as well. Father Christmas brought them.

My son made guns/swords out of sticks. We did allow him the wooden swords sold at our local castle, as well as the Power Rangers sword. He always wanted a slingshot but we never allowed that.

I just wanted to say my daughter visited Vietnam with her Vietnamese ex boyfriend. She was filming a bike ride, and I could see tiny children driving tiny tanks in the playground. That shocked me.

My boy would always pick up a stick when out for a walk.
It would become a sword, (or sometimes great nans walking stick, so he would hobble along with it)

When our first son was born in 1979, I was determined not to buy guns as playthings. Forward three years to a playgroup Christmas party and his gift from Santa - a gun and holster set! Fortunately he wasn’t too interested in it.

MissA I have 5 GSs and all apart from the youngest (just 2) they all have nerf guns they all have water pistols (more like flipping bazookas) and totally soak you.

My brother had a ‘cowboy’ pistol, with holster and caps, as a child, and has not turned out to be a homicidal maniac. He also had an air rifle as a teen, and IIRC mainly used it to pot the heads off flowers in the garden from his bedroom window.

My Gds (5) has had a nerf gun and loved it, but I suspect that (like most ‘bits’ of everything in their house) all the bullets are now lost. He recently picked up and enjoyed a ‘gun shaped’ stick in the park. I suspect that he’d have done that whether he’d ever been given toy guns or not.

TBH I think that to some extent it’s in their DNA* so provided they’re not being brought up with violence/aggression at home, I can’t see any harm in it.

Back in the summer he was also delighted with a plastic battleaxe from the Tower of London shop. I had originally said no, but that was before I saw that it was only a fiver.

*elder Gdd (6) has never shown the slightest interest in guns.

MissAdventure

I've found children will just make their own 'guns'.
My friends little boy used one of his Barbie dolls' legs to make the gun barrel and went around 'shooting' people, despite mums ideas.

Exactly! I remember going round to visit a friend, and another friend of hers, who was an educational psychologist, was there and went on and on about how her son would never been allowed to play with guns or anything like that. We then looked round to see said child running round the garden with a stick, 'shooting' at the other kids. Enough said. People go out of their way to be 'offended' by things like this nowadays.

And the "bullets" get everywhere, except with the gun.
My boy had a big collection of all different types, but he's grown out of them now.

MissAdventure

They shoot soft tube like "bullets".
They were a top selling toy a while back, I'd imagine, with probably about a 1000 variations on the theme.

Yes, DGS had one and they sting.

Coincidentally, my young DGD asked me yesterday if I played Cowboys and Indians when I was very young and I said Yes, we did and I had a gun with caps. It was great fun.
However, that was in the olden days before supermarkets!

It didn't turn me into a gunslinger, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea these days, people might get nervous.

They shoot soft tube like "bullets".
They were a top selling toy a while back, I'd imagine, with probably about a 1000 variations on the theme.

I don’t think any of my GC have a nerf gun. What are they??

I think this is going to be one of "those" threads.

Thank you everyone, yes i SHOULD have left it at home, I was always adamant my son would have no guns, knives, swords whatsoever and in future i will do the same with my GS when he is in my care.

Do nobody's grandchildren have Nerf guns?
I'd be amazed if not.

As someone who had cowboy guns as a child when it was normal, I absolutely get that toy guns are not a good idea now. We (some 60 years ago) lived in a world where guns were things of fantasy for children, so far as I remember, there were no armed police or any need for them. I agree that real type guns in todays society should not be portrayed or used as toys. I am a bit amazed that your GC even has one?

As someone with two grandchildren in the US who have to do regular ‘shooter’ drills in school, I wouldn’t be in the least amused by this.

If your child/GC must play with a gun, keep it for home. Apart from anything else, you run the risk of someone calling the police and it wouldn’t be very nice for a small child to experience that.

I think you did the right thing. Pointing a gun at other people, albeit a toy gun, is anti social behaviour in my opinion. Children playing with one another and making ‘pretend’ guns from other toys or their fingers is okay, pointing a toy gun at people in the supermarket is not okay. Well done for removing the gun from him.

Bit hard on the child just removing it at a whim of your conscience but I agree they really shouldn't be around nowadays. Just reminiscing over photographs with son 2 recently and we both instantly remarked on the knife he was toting on his belt. 40 years later and this would not happen nowadays, thank goodness.

My own son was never allowed guns, never, then what career did he take ! Army. ....

When i say pointing sorry
i didn't actually mean pointing in a 'threatening' way, i have worded the whole experience wrong....

One of my sons was mad about guns when he was small.
Even then, I never let him play with them out of the house.
These days, I would not even buy him one. Your instinct which kicked in was absolutely correct.

I've found children will just make their own 'guns'.
My friends little boy used one of his Barbie dolls' legs to make the gun barrel and went around 'shooting' people, despite mums ideas.

Playing with toy guns is “ normalising “ guns , not a good idea ! Why would he even have one !