Moral Quandry

We have guns,several in fact. All locked away safely. Hubby uses them for hunting and target shooting. Actually he is at a deer hunting course this weekend.
Our daughter has been hunting with him (although no shots were fired), but, she has been, and will continue to be taught about safety around guns. She is being educated on the correct use, and that there is certainly a time and a place.
This is a discussion with many factors that are to be considered. Guns can be dangerous, and so can cars. But, I don't see any discussions about Transformers, those race track sets where the cars travel very fast (I have a girl and don't know what they are called!),remote controlled cars etc......and yet they encourage speeding and crashing into one another.

You know your kids best, and I am sure you will make the decision that is right for you.
Michelle

I only have a daughter so havent had to think about it but I dont think i would think twice those toy guns in the catalogue would be great fun!!! I used to play cops and robbers with my siblings and all sorts of games involving guns and we arent violent. I think it all depends on how a child is raised and agree with what someone else said guns dont kill people, people kill people. From what iv seen (and heard from friends) boys are hard enough to buy for as it is!!!

This is a discussion with many factors that are to be considered. Guns can be dangerous, and so can cars. But, I don't see any discussions about Transformers, those race track sets where the cars travel very fast (I have a girl and don't know what they are called!),remote controlled cars etc......and yet they encourage speeding and crashing into one another.

you make a really really valid point here!

I also can see where people are coming from where they think of water pistols and nerfs as being different to 'real Looking guns'

thanks everyone for all your points and sharing your ideas (without it getting off track and attacking anyone wink )

I've made up my mind about this now smile

We are a no gun household here !! ..Yeah he will use a stick or his fingers ...that is fine ..boys will be boys ..but it jsut doesnt sit right with me when a little boy sticks a gun up in someones face and says "bang bang your dead " Or Lukes favorite "I am going to shoot your till your dead " .,..it makes me feel uneasy !!

he has a bucket of army men and when he was given it he got all the guns together and gave them to me and said "here mum ..I dont want to play with these ..." bloody hell I am brain washed the poor kid lol lol ..I get what I want and I am still not happy !! lol lol lol

We have a gun cage at the farm as well ....He has never seen on in action ..I honestly dont know how he would react if he was to see it fired !

i have a girl and it hasnt come up yet but i dont encourage guns.
pretty much for the reasons everyone else has listed. i also dont encourage knives/swords, weapons of any sort really.i think there is so many other fantastic toys on the market to keep them happy. if they want to play guns bad enough they can use their finger.
i just feel like at a young age children probably dont recognise the difference between a real gun and a toy gun and cant really understand the concept of death and how final it is and how dangerous a weapon like that can be.
just look at all the kids in america who are killing themselves and each other by playing with their parents guns that arent locked away safely. they were all "playing" with them.
but it is a really personal choice and there is no right or wrong answer. their is obviously consumer demand for them or they wouldnt keep bringing them out on to the market. but thankfully, DD prefers fairy wands to guns LOL

I respect that guns have their place, i.e for farming/hunting purposes, security, war etc; but that place will never be in my home. I believe (like most things) it comes down to the parenting; and unfortunately a lot of the time children are given toy guns and told to 'go play' without any explanation of the rules or what a gun is and can do. I respect the way you have discussed it with your children.

In my opinion, (and it's just that; MY opinion), there is no need for children to be exposed to toy guns.

I would never tell another parent how to raise their child. We make educated, informed decisions about what we feel is best for OUR child. Each to their own.... smile

And in regards to KW60F2, your DP going out and getting a gun on the black market is a pretty extreme and rare demonstration of rebelling. I'd be interested to know if he was educated about guns/violence as a child, or if he came from a more sheltered background?

I have been blessed to be raised in an open minded, educated family. We spoke about everything from history, war, violence, drugs, sex and politics around the dinner table. There was no 'taboo' subject and we were educated on actions and consequences, which left no wondering or desire to go out and do something just because we were told not to.

Thanks for that, I was hoping I wouldn't come across as arguing with you, just wanted to point out that whilst we use guns, we do now allow violence!!

KW I agree that is a very extreme case, and I think that cold happen with a lot of things, I don't think his parents not allowing him to play with guns contributed to that

Yes i too think its extreme, but his mother continually tried to shetler him from guns. In there household it was like the never existed in the world and he was told that people that use them were possessed (my mil is very strange) But i guess what i was trying to get across is the longer you hide things from kids the more they want it. I think that children should be taught about guns and there correct uses. (of course when they are old enough) I would freak if i knew that my 15 yr old bought a gun.

I spent a lot of time reading articles and looking into research on kids and toy guns, these are the conclusions I came to http://leashingthechaos.wordpress.com/2012/07/2...