Question of the Week: Would You Buy Toy Guns as Gifts?

T. Dempsey December 25, 2012 at 04:03 am

Kids should be educated and warned of the dangers of firearms, on the same token they should be allowed once educated to enjoy them with adult supervision. This is America last I checked. One misguided teenager shouldn't ruin it for everyone. I have no problem with toy guns, playing cops and robbers is better than being glued to an iPhone any day.

rhonda johnson December 25, 2012 at 07:02 pm

Yes, I agree..everyone should KNOW how to use a gun! and WHEN! guns are not the problem the person or persons using them are the problem. Bad drivers cause more deaths each year than guns and wars..I promise ALL, my heart goes out to All the parents of this horrible thing that happened and has happened in the past..i lost my son 12 years ago. He was killed by a woman running a stop sign. Her excuse..to the judge..I was in a hurry..may God Bless us all and keep us all safe..Amen

steve December 25, 2012 at 08:55 pm

Kids need to learn how to load,aim and shoot gun by their 10th bday. Also we need to start wearing side arms again like they did in the western days. Yep im for ole time justice like hangins and gun control should only be defined as controlling your hand steady as you aim that gun at the bad guy. The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.

steve December 25, 2012 at 08:59 pm

Also i feel for them kids and parents up there in that yankee state of connicut but if them teachers would have been toting a gun they could have shot that bandit are made a citizens arrest and he could have been tryed and if i was president id hang him from a tall tree.

Todd December 26, 2012 at 01:23 pm

I grew up during the Vietnam war with parents who taught us how to properly use a gun at age 12, but never gave us toy guns because they believed that action was glorifying war. We managed to play cowboys and indians with sticks or whatever we could find. I have raised my son the same way, and we have found lots of parents doing the same thing. Our kids have respect for firearms and for those soldiers who have given their lives for our country.

Chris December 26, 2012 at 02:36 pm

My parents had a rule that no toy guns were in the home ... even water guns. I was told that "guns aren't toys" and it stuck. I owned my first real gun at the age of 5 and still own a 9mm today. I learned a high level of respect and discretion should be maintained when even discussing firearms. The lesson has now passed to my household where I recently disposed of a toy gun that sprayed bubbles. My kids never missed it. Our country fought hard to get and protect the 2nd amendment. With that comes our responsibility to use some common sense. My approach may be overboard to some, but it has served our family well for three generations now.

David Chamness December 26, 2012 at 06:05 pm

When my boys were young, we had a "no war toys" rule. I have guns, but they are not toys. Watching them grow up and turn any number of sticks and other items into "toy guns," I now realize how silly I was. They don't need commercially produced toy guns, they make their own.
Now they are older and are allowed any toys they want. They have airsoft guns, and we own a fairly powerful pellet gun for target shooting. They are responsible kids, and have been taught to respect firearms. Keeping toy guns away from kids won't keep them from pretending to shoot people, teaching them to shoot responsibly might keep them from doing so accidentally, however. Teaching them the importance of not hurting their fellow man will prevent them from shooting other people intentionally.

Lee Fleck December 26, 2012 at 07:40 pm

Absolutely and yes, I do admit that it is very disconcerting that one of the best selling items this past x-mas was Kevlar backpacks.
I have purchased guns for my grandsons and I intend to so as they mature. I intend to either teach them myself or see to their proper training with both rifles & hand guns. They have also learned to shoot thru the Boy Scout troop.

steve December 26, 2012 at 11:38 pm

I say heck yeah give them boys some gun toys after all there toys duh. People need to use common sense.

Debbie Pascoe December 27, 2012 at 01:54 am

Toy guns? As in toys that don't shoot things but make cool sound effects and light up and stuff? Sure! In fact, I have. Who didn't play with pop guns as a kid? And, honestly, if you DO fail to get your kids toy guns, they'll still pretend sticks are guns. "Pretend" is fun. As far as getting kids REAL guns (air rifles or whatever) -- good parenting and teaching respect for, rules of, etc. is a good idea too, when the kids are old enough / mature enough to learn those lessons. My opinion.

Always an Emerson girl! December 27, 2012 at 05:32 am

"Train up a child..."Lord have mercy. Give a child a gun at 4 when he absolutely has no idea what a gun even IS and where will he be at 14, 24? Respect a gun. I am always amazed at the nonsensel comments I read here. Even before Newtown and other tragedies I was throwing away my grandsons' guns. I don't care WHO bought them, their parents or anyone else. They do not need to play with 'toy' guns. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. Prayerfully, NO ONE who has commented here will ever have to sorrowfully revisit their thoughts on this topic in a few more years. Everyone's got an opinion and this is my 2.5 cents.

Norman December 28, 2012 at 04:12 pm

Teach a child that a gun is to be feared, and they will be a victim.
Teach a child to have respect for a gun and to use it wisely, and they may save a life one day. I buy my kids real guns, to use with me while at the gun range.

John January 1, 2013 at 10:54 pm

GUNS DO NOT KILL PEOPLE CRAZY PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE

Gayla January 1, 2013 at 11:55 pm

Amen, John.