Toy guns. Would you allow them in your house?

[spidermama]

My DH and his two brothers were not allowed guns in the house. So desperate were they to play gun games that they used to bite their toast into gun shapes and use them.

I wouldn't buy them for my two but unfortunatley have an old Irish Grandad who see's no harm in toy guns,knives,swords etc and quite often comes over with a new arsenal!! Oh,dear-too polite to say anything-boys have been playing coyboys and Indians for a long time-hopefuly it can lead to morality and sensitivity to death,(I hope!!)

Have always had a firm line on guns but have a veritable armoury of swords, cutlasses and daggers - all historically accurate and educational of course.
We have had guns and "bazookas" (once they start school you've had it really) made out of loo rolls, Brio Builder, Knex, Lego...

Heehee Tarantula. Spiderboy has his own fairly active finger gun and, worse still, an obsession with cutting up slugs with butter knives at the moment. Horrible, especially when he puts the knives straight back in the drawer covered in slug slime.

spidermama that's horrible on so many levels

this is always a hot debate.

I don't allow them and not keen on a toy sword ds was given with a knight's outfit...tho funnily enough he never does any harm with it, but a friend came round to play, hunted out the sword and proceeded to try to slash all the heads off the flowers (until I stopped him...)

Don't like water pistols or squirter guns either.

Everyone warned me ds1 would bite toast into shapes/shoot with fingers/make guns out of lego. He is 6 and has never done any of these things. Maybe I've bred a pacifist!!!!

Feel slightly queasy now spidermama for quite a few reasons. Have to admit tho after what te little b......s have done to my caulis and cabbages...grrrrrr

what about the tiny ones that come with Playmobil pirate sets then???

nightynight. Yes, we do have lots of those but even ds can't manufacture WW3 out of such teeny firearms.
I have to admit to being shocked when I bought a Playmobil traffic policeman for a friend's ds and of course, being German, he had a little handgun!

ds has guns, and swords and lightsabres (surprised these haven't been mentioned yet!) I am of the opinion that if I ban something he will want it more.
Kids these days are more and more exposed to these things, whether we like it or not, surely it is a case of teaching them to have a healthy respect for this kind of toy rather than trying to shield them from something they are bound to come across in shops, at friend's houses or at the playground. imo they will only be able to have that respect by seeing them and playing with them and realising that (compared to lego for example) guns have very limited entertainment value.
I do however really repect all of you with the willpower to say no!

IME boys will fight with anything given half the chance. DS1 has one power rangers sword/gun thing which I bought under pressure, but he causes more havoc with his star wars light sabres (hate hate hate them!!) He wasn't allowed guns in nursery of course, but apparently the kids would chase each other with sticks, rolled up paper etc pretending they were guns, then denying this when questioned by the nuirsery staff. They were cute to the rules from about the age of 3.

I don't think my DS will grow up to be a gangster or especially violent. I hate to say it but 'boys will be boys', something I would never have agreed with before I actually had one.

yep, ds has toy guns and swords and policemans kits and stuff.

Spidermama - your son and mine would get on me thinks.. he has grown out of the pink stage (altho he wouldnt let me have my nighty back still stashed under his pillosw along with a playmobil knight) but recently i caught him going on a slug killing rampage and he also thinks nothing of picking up the slimy creatures to have a really close look... yuck

I played "war" with my brothers all the time as a kid - if we couldn't find our guns (buried in sandpit etc) we'd just use our hands and make the noise ourselves! I'd let ds play with guns - surely it's just make believe? Am I being too naive - is it because of the way the world is today that people object?

DS has 2 CAP rifles and a CAP pistol and swords and lightsabers and water pistol

He now has a full fencing kit with a foil

ALL OF THESE ARE REMOVED BEFORE ANY CHILDREN COME ROUND TO PLAY

He is 10 years old.

I know I am going to be told I am an awful mother

These are all kept in his bedroom {mindees do NOT go in his bedroom}

My brother and I had CAP guns when we were younger

He knows CAPS are only to be used outside and not when our cats are around.

We live near the countryside so are not disturbing anyone.

He does FENCING once a week and we got the kit for him to use in electric fencing in competitions

Hate guns and swords (banned in our house, although dh is not bothered about it). Ds has a lightsabre, and he and dd play endlessly with rolls from wrapping paper (lots of "engaurd" - sure that isn't spelt right). Many thngs are made into guns, ever since nursery, but no great enthusiasm. I remember friends having caps, but I wouldn't have them in the house - hate bangs!

the last time we had this debate it ran for ages and was great and overheated as usual

its obvious that by having guns yhou are promoting violence and they are going to go out at 16 and shoot their classmates

I don't allow my daughter to have toy guns, (except the one in the loft she danced with in a show - don't ask) .

This is totally hypocritical of me as I have a gun dog, spent much of my youth shooting rabbits to eat for tea and I am starting clay pigeon shooting! But have fuelled the fires of debate.

Yes of course I would - by making a big deal of it, you run the risk of sparking their interest. I'd hope that I could teach him about the consequences of violence and war and anyway, the guns themselves aren't the problem, it's the mind set of the people carrying them in adult life that I'm more concerned about. I live in the country surrounded by shotgun owners but I'm never worried for the safety of my family.

yes. I don't buy them but I don't ban them either and my son has been given more than one. At least if you have them in the house you can probably teach children not to point them at other people. Yesterday two boys ( about 8 and 10) pointed their double barrelled guns straight at me in the street. I don't think there was anything in them and it was careless rather than deliberate. However I still wasn't very pleased.

Ds hasn't shown any interest in them although he isn't quite 2 yet so I know it would be early if he did. I don't suppose I would ban them, but wouldn't buy them for him myself. As said earlier, if someone gives them as a gift we could then have the conversation about not pointing them at people etc. Although, these days, it's not very PC for a gift is it?

Ds has water guns but I would be very reluctant to buy him other toy guns unless he was desperate.

My brother had toy guns as a child and I played with them as well with no adverse effects, but I think society is different now and I think it would make me feel very uncomfortable to see my dss playing with toy guns.

Perhaps I'm oversensitive and overanalysing.

I have three boys oldest 13 next month. All very dufferent natures NO guns allowed ( whats the fun in pretending to take someones life) no swords etc. Strange no one has ever built one out of duplo or made one out of clay .......My boys are normal but not aggressive

I dont like gund either. I always say no to guns, but when ds1 was small someone bought him one, he played with it for about 10 mins and got bored with it!!!!

Yes we have cowboy outfits with a gun, a lightsaber (sigh), a few swords etc. I look back on my childhood of playing with these things with fondness & haven't turned into a mass murderer or anything.

I think millions of kids over the years have played with these things and the vast majority don't turn out thinking its OK to kill people.

I know its not a very PC view - but its mine!