Are water guns and Nerf guns different from realistic toy guns?

[Kids1933]

Just woundering. Do you think water guns and nerf guns are different to toy guns that look more real? Or do you think they shouldn't he played with at all?

Have a look at nerf guns.
Omg they are a toy and lets.not get to p.c now

Personally I prefer the squirter type water toys (foam cylinders) to the ones that look more like guns. I find the big bright coloured comedy ones are less horrible than the more realistic ones. I tell my daughter (when she asked about waterpistols) that I don't like the gun shaped ones, and that you should never play at killing/hurting people. I also said that this is how I feel, but lots of people don't mind them because it is only play (there was obviously a lot more to the conversation than that).

In this country I am quite relaxed about all of them. That's because guns are so rare here if you saw a child with something gun shaped you wouldn't panic. I don't like the very realistic ones because they can be used to threaten/scare people or alternatively they could be used in innocence and someone could believe they were real. Hence it makes sense to limit them. But a brightly coloured gun shaped thing is always going to be read by a passer by as a water gun/nerd gun. And to British kids they go pew pew not bang bang.

If I lived in a country where guns are more common I would be more careful. Both because I don't want children thinking real guns are toys because they are used to toy guns, and because I don't want my 11 year old getting shot by an overenthusiastic cop because he thought his nerf gun was a real threat.

But fortunately I live in the UK so relaxed.

Ffs…

All toy guns (inckuding water pistols and nerf guns) should be brightly coloured.

The aim of the game with water pistols is to get each other wet.
The aim of the game with Nerf guns is to hit each other with a small foam dart which doesn't hurt.
The aim of the game with guns is to kill or injure.
That's what they are for.
Toy guns that look like real guns I don't like because why do you want to play at killing?
Water pistols and Nerf are fine but they should never look like a real gun. They should be bright colours and clearly plastic.

Water pistols look nothing like real guns.

not least because they are usually neon colours