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Original poster

Black Toy Gun - Would You Be Offended

38 replies

jamesk0001 · 06/04/2018 18:35

DD is a junior doctor had just finished her shift at A&E and was waiting for the bus.

A young (about 5 years old) girl comes up to her and points a black toy gun in her face and pulls the trigger - it has caps and "bangs".

DD is livid given she has just dealt with knife wounds in A&E and the recent events in London. She politely tells the mother that the girl's actions are not acceptable.

She says the girl is lucky not to be hurt because her first response was to defend herself as the first thing she saw was the gun in her face. Luckily she realised it was a toy because of the small orange lid in the barrel.

Thoughts please....?

OP posts:
ineedamoreadultieradult · 06/04/2018 18:39

The orange should be clearly visible from the outside of the barrel not the inside. If it isn't then the mum is setting her daughter up for some major problems. She shouldn't be letting her daughter pull a gun on someone even if it is clearly a toy, you never know what experiences the person has had and how they may react.

MycatsaPirate · 06/04/2018 18:48

Oh the mother is an idiot for a) letting her child think it's fun to play with a toy weapon and b) to shove into the face of a stranger in public.

I hate toy guns/weapons. They serve no purpose whatsoever other than to 'normalise' shooting/harming other people.

KiraL · 06/04/2018 18:49

The mother is a complete and utter idiot.

MyDcAreMarvel · 06/04/2018 18:49

No I wouldn’t be offended, it was a little girl playing with a toy.

KiraL · 06/04/2018 18:51

Rolling a toy car along the floor or bouncing a ball is "playing with a toy"

Pulling a gun on someone's face is not.

Even if it is a toy.

awfulmothersince2008 · 06/04/2018 18:52

I would agree with your DD that toy guns, made to look like real guns, are not appropriate for young children. If it had been my little girl I'd have been suitably embarrassed and apologised.

However, suggesting the little girl was lucky not to be hurt is threatening and would have got my back up.

daisypond · 06/04/2018 18:54

I would be annoyed. It's not acceptable.

catkind · 06/04/2018 18:55

Completely unacceptable. Well done your DD for staying polite.

DancingLedge · 06/04/2018 18:55

Okay in your own garden, absolutely not ok in public.

Ever seen an ex- squaddie with PTSD who, even if just for an instant, thinks someone's pulled a gun on them?

And there have been cases where someone who gets a brief glimpse, like a passing motorist, thinks they've maybe seen an actual gun, and the armed response team is mobilised.
Not that likely, but it has happened more than once in the county I live in.

Habanero · 06/04/2018 19:00

At the age of 5 the child of some family friends did this to my father. DF was in the army and had just come back from active duty: he knocked the child’s arm, hard, to make him drop the gun (this was in the days before orange sections - it was plain black), and pushed the child over so it was out of reach.

I remember the child screaming blue murder and my DF’s face with the colour drained from it. The child’s parents weren’t too happy with DF, but fortunately there were other army families there who understood the situation and it all got smoothed over.

I don’t blame your DD one bit. I hope she’s okay.

Original poster
jamesk0001 · 06/04/2018 19:01

Ever seen an ex- squaddie with PTSD who, even if just for an instant, thinks someone's pulled a gun on them?

That's one of the comments DD made. When she was training she worked with members of the armed forces and others that suffered PTSD.

OP posts:
Original poster
jamesk0001 · 06/04/2018 19:24

I hope she’s okay.

Yes thanks, she is fine! I think she wanted a good moan after a long and mixed shift week (days and nights).

Mentioned it's wine o'clock at about 6PM and I get the impression that her house mates will not get the chance to sit down before a bottle is opened or they go to the nearest bar!

OP posts:
Pickybrow · 06/04/2018 19:26

Tbh I wouldn’t want a child I don’t know putting any toy in my face.

I don’t like toy guns either.

TinWhistleTunes · 06/04/2018 19:31

It's not acceptable to point toy guns at people, especially strangers on the street.

I'm glad your daughter said something. Maybe this mum will think it through a bit now.

wendiwoowho · 06/04/2018 20:46

It was a five year old little girl.
Total over reaction.

RB68 · 06/04/2018 20:49

Have you seen how many child deaths there are in the US

Not an overeaction in a public place when we are on high alert for terrorism

I fucking hate toy guns - nerf or otherwise. Not even keen on coloured waterpistols if I am honest

Habanero · 06/04/2018 21:08

Wendiwoo are you saying you can’t understand the instinctive response to disarm a person with a gun? It is probably more dangerous if a small child is waving a gun in your face.

LiteraryDevil · 06/04/2018 21:21

I HATE toy guns. My LO used to love playing with my ex's kid's toy guns but after all the "I'm gonna shoot you" comments and a toy gun in my face I told him not to bring them to my house anymore.

I remember a story many years ago of armed police being called to a cafe in Norway as there was reports of someone being armed. Turned out to be a young boy with a toy rifle. Think they are banned in Norway but could be wrong.

Good for your DD .

wendiwoowho · 06/04/2018 21:25

Fair enough in America where the chance of a child getting a hold of an actual gun is very high, sadly.
But in the UK, it isn't very common for a child of five to be casually playing with a real gun at a bus stop, without her mother or whoever she was with noticing.

I wouldn't say it is everyone's instinct to disarm someone with a gun, unless they have a military background of course.
If I saw a child with a gun my first presumption would be that it was a toy.

Original poster
jamesk0001 · 06/04/2018 22:18

@wendiwoowho

When you see a gun, you react, regardless of who is holding it. This isn't the '70s when only villains from the Sweeny and Coppers had real guns and all kids had cap guns.

Now you have teenagers shooting each other and giving real guns to their under criminal age siblings to look after. It is not a stretch to think that a gun pointed at you is real.

Personally I think the kid is lucky not to have been knocked to the ground - not out of spite - but from a defence reaction.

OP posts:
LoniceraJaponica · 06/04/2018 22:27

Ignore Wendiwooho. She is probably a Trump supporter.

I know absolutely zero about guns - toy or otherwise, and wouldn't know about the orange lid. I abhor the idea of toy guns, especially in light of recent events. The idea of using a gun should never be normalised IMO.

MadMags · 06/04/2018 22:32

Oh ffs!

Her instinct was to defend herself against a five year old? Really? Unless you’re about to drip feed that you’re in the US, or that your dd is a veteran then this is totally ridiculous!

I can’t believe someone asked was your adult dd ok because a five year old waved a toy in her face! 😂😂😂

And this child and mum weren’t to know that she’d just dealt with stab wounds. Hmm perhaps being a doctor is not for her!

Really, comparing this to teen shootings in America is completely unhinged!

MadMags · 06/04/2018 22:45

Personally I think the kid is lucky not to have been knocked to the ground - not out of spite - but from a defence reaction.

I don’t even like toy guns, but if a grown adult had knocked my five year old to the ground I’d make sure she didn’t get away with it by whatever means necessary.

wendiwoowho · 06/04/2018 22:47

Jamesk0001

I think you've watched too much TV or you live in a really bad area, I genuinely don't believe that this is an accurate reflection of gun culture in the UK.

LoniceraJaponica

Really? Hmm that's a pritty big assumption. OP asked for thoughts, just because mines doesn't seem to be the same as most, doesn't mean I should be ignored or make me a Trump supporter.

BertrandRussell · 06/04/2018 22:52

I can’t believe anyone thinks that toy guns are a good thing under any circumstances.

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