Gun (toy ) requested by DS

[polkadotpjs]

He really wants a gun toy he's seen and a target set to play with it. He absolutely does NOT want a nerf one but one that looks like a Fortnite gun.
I'm anxious about guns because...guns. Horrible things. He says he wants to practise aim and loves buying the special edition guns in the game.
Would you ? Has anyone bought similar and it's been ok or you've regretted it- either waste of time or tries to shoot sibling / you?! (I hate nerf darts getting mr never mind rubber pellet things even if they're meant to be soft).

What does it fire if not nerf bullets? What about a laser gun and target set?
Don’t really have an issue with toy guns tbh. Forbidden fruit and all that. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ds has toy guns. They're just toys. Dh has a firearms license though, and my father did when I was younger, so guns (for sport, clays etc) have always been in my life. We're big on being gunsafe though. I know DH is looking forward to when ds is big enough to go to the shooting club with him.

You make very good points and he was gutted he couldn't do the clay pigeon shooting activity on holiday in summer as too young.
I think it'll be ok. And off screens!

i think a gun and target set sounds great
what about a junior dart set?

junior bow and arrow?

If you're letting him buy guns as part of playing Fortnite then I'm not sure there's much difference in letting him have a toy gun to be honest.

I have a DS aged 7 and we've always allowed toy guns. They're toys.

My boys had lots of types of guns, Nerf, police sets, cap guns and potato guns when they were little. It reminded me of my childhood lol. Loved a spud gun!

@polkadotpjs I saw this on Amazon thinking of getting for my Ds. Sorry I can't do links

Guns are fine if they are done properly they just need to be carefully managed. Our ds has shot an air rifle at a target from 7 but he doesn’t get free access it is locked up unless we are right next to him supervising it and now at 9 he now has his own shotgun which obviously is heavily supervised. He loves coming with us to shoot a few clays and it’s heavily controlled and he is very aware of gun safety but he loves it and it’s a great activity for all of us.

Our ds has shot an air rifle at a target from 7 but he doesn’t get free access it is locked up unless we are right next to him supervising it and now at 9 he now has his own shotgun which obviously is heavily supervised.

😱 I’m not keen on kids having toys guns but this makes them suddenly not seem so bad.

Why is it so bad? It teaches him so much and is a nice family activity and healthy competition between us. My husband and I both have a gun licence we go down to the shooting ground our ds stands next to one of us in the stand. We load the gun for him and when ready to shoot pass the gun to him, he takes his shot at a clay disk and we take it straight away from him, he has it for a matter of seconds. How is that worse than kids running around actually shooting at each other even if it is foam bullets.

I think shooting as a sport is completely different from playing with toy guns. Not comparable.

OP, if he's playing fortnite I'm not sure there's much point banning toy guns (not said judgily- my kids also play fortnite).

An 11 year old and 12 year old got arrested near us a few weeks ago for threatening drivers near a retail park with a toy gun.

It's a very serious offence if it's a toy gun that looks like a real gun.

I'm sure your son is very sensible but what are his friends like?

Id rather take him for a shooting experience I think ! The gun would not leave the house so I'm not worried about it being used as a threat. I don't think!!
I am fine with him laying Fortnite for the most part. I'd rather he played target shooting than be on the Xbox that's for sure!

My kids got given an old cep/cap(?) gun from their cousins and LOVED it. The type weee you put the little ammunition round and it makes a real bang noise but no actual bullet

Why absolutely not Nerf? They do a range of Fortnite guns and you can get targets.

Got nerf but doesn't like them