to think you don't let your kid shoot people in the supermarket?

[DonkeyHohtay]

Busy Saturday morning in the supermarket. Boy of about 8 with his Dad. Dad busy filling his basket and behaving perfectly normally.

Boy has a large, black plastic gun. Rifle type rather than a pistol (I'm not a gun expert). Boy is holding gun up to his shoulder, looking down the length of it, pointing it at people and saying "bang bang you're dead". When boy pointed it at me I said - perfectly politely - "Please don't point that at me, I don't like guns".

Father looked at me as if I had grown two heads.

AIBU to think that the supermarket on a busy morning isn't the place for toy guns??

Full disclosure - I'm not a gun fan. Although who is. My kids have in the past had those large "Nerf" type guns which are bright orange and could never be mistaken for a real one. The rules were always that shooting the little foam things at people was not allowed. The had hours of fun in the garden trying to hit a tree or something. This wasn't a gun like that. It was a toy gun, but a black one made to look like the real thing.

AIBU to be a wee bit shocked and think this was completely inappropriate?

Yanbu

Oh my goodness, how silly. This is the most ridiculous reason to get upset. Clearly it's going to be a toy gun, it was a child. They are hardly going to be armed with a real one are they!? I think you need to have a word with yourself.

It still baffles me that people buy pretend guns for their children at all. “Here you go son, pretend to shoot your brother- but also be nice to him and don’t hit him or say mean things, just emulate killing him”.

it’s fucking bizarre!

Didn't say I was upset. I said I was a "wee bit shocked" and thought it was inappropriate.

Ds 4 loves guns but they don't leave the house. A few weeks ago at a local market he picked up a huge water gun and aimed at a seagull. Fired it.
Unfortunately it had water in and soaked a man standing by!! Ds's face was a picture! The man initially thought it was a seagull and not water - he laughed and all was well!!
Yanbu to be unhappy op..

No way would I let my ds behave like that.

Your response was slightly bizarre though.

The supermarket isn't the place for toy guns, and many other toys. Pretending to shoot strangers with guns is wrong.

As for toy guns looking realistic... That's a situation that could go badly wrong.

Don't see the problem
I also don't see a problem with children playing with pretend guns
Real guns would be very bad, but toys? No. Not an issue

My kids have a huge range of nerf guns and have hours of fun shooting each other. I think the problem was that this boy was in a public place and the fact he was relating shooting someone with them being dead. My kids never pretend to have killed each other or pretend to be dead. My DM would have said something similar to you she absolutely hates guns, toy or not.

I wouldn't say it looked "realistic". It had a red bit on the end where the bullet is supposed to come out on a real one. It wouldn't fool anyone who was looking properly. But it wasn't a Nerf type one which is brightly coloured and not anything like the real thing.

Today 11:38 Tmartnmum

Absolutely disgusting if that was my dd she would get a smack on the bum.*

Absolutely we have to stop the spread of violence somehow

I wouldn’t let my DS do that.

But equally I think you are being ridiculous, you knew it was a small child playing with a toy gun. Tying yourself in knots trying to differentiate between that and a Nerf is not convincing.

Absolutely disgusting if that was my dd she would get a smack on the bum.

Pretend violence is punishable by real violence? That’ll learn ‘em

My children wouldn’t be allowed to do that and I wouldn’t like to see other children do that either. Mind you, where I live I suspect any parent allowing that would be given choice words from a great many people. You couldn’t even buy toy guns here for many, many years.

It baffles me that replica guns are thought of as suitable playthings for children.

I would have wanted to shoot him back with my "finger gun" but would have refrained. Probably.

Tying yourself in knots trying to differentiate between that and a Nerf is not convincing.

Maybe. But I wouldn't let my kids take ANY type of guns to the supermarket, cinema, swimming pool... any public place. They wouldn't take the Lego or any other toys either!

I love guns and own a few RIFs as a part of a hobby. My DS owns some too and he has been very into swords from a young age.

However, he would never be allowed to pretend shoot people (or swing swords!) in a public place like a supermarket.

Also, RIFs aren't allowed. You have to have a licence for them and you can't get them out in public. If a toy gun looks like a real gun, it shouldn't be out where people can see it. If it has bright colours, it's fine.

I don't see the issue here. The kid is playing. Fine you don't like guns, I don't either. But from the kids point of view he is just playing.
I have done the pretend fall to the floor after being shot thing when a random kid has done this to me.

Nerf gun is exactly the same as a pretend gun, except a nerf actually shoots bullets so yabu for trying to justify that.
No I wouldn’t let my DS pretend shoot people in a shop but that’s me, neither would it affect me if someone else’s dc shot me with a toy. It’s preten play.

I disagree, he is just playing.