Maybe a Derringer or something. It seems their small hands would not hold a full sized pistol safely. Perhaps we could come out with a new line of guns, specially designed for young children.

Actually - as small children I wouldn't let my kids have toy guns. I didn't want them to ever view a gun as something to play with, especially when we had guns in the house. I was pretty strict about it. They were allowed to have ray guns or water guns, etc only if they didn't much resemble a real gun.

well, that is a good point/idea... but, there are still other sources where in a child could get the wrong idea about guns. well, I have a niece who I babysit sometime and I guess its somehow irresponsible but I have to admit that I don't know every little thing that she does or learn. Apparently, she has been playing violently. must be something from what she has watched..

You need a gun as young as possible.

Originally Posted by jabo

well, that is a good point/idea... but, there are still other sources where in a child could get the wrong idea about guns. well, I have a niece who I babysit sometime and I guess its somehow irresponsible but I have to admit that I don't know every little thing that she does or learn. Apparently, she has been playing violently. must be something from what she has watched..

When my kids were under 5 they were always with either myself, my husband or close family. When they watched tv, we watched with them. When they played, we played with them. When they received gifts, they were within the boundaries that we had set, or they never knew that they had received them. There were a few relatives that had a difficult time remembering that I didn't want my children to view guns as toys and when those relatives gave gifts to my children I made sure I knew what it was before the gift got to the kid. We were consistent in the morals, responsibilities and beliefs that we taught them. They grew up understanding gun safety and respect for other people. They have both had minor issues in school - but I have never been called because one of them was violent towards anyone. They grew up in a house that both parents spend a considerable amount of time either target shooting, hunting, or caring for guns and bows - but neither of them would ever point a gun (or a knocked arrow for that matter) any where near a person.

Parents need to be responsible for what their children learn. I don't think that enough parents put their children as their top priority and the end result of that is a majority of the worlds problems.

When the knife gets blunt.

...am I missing something here or is this not complete satire?

Originally Posted by KML9870

Parents need to be responsible for what their children learn. I don't think that enough parents put their children as their top priority and the end result of that is a majority of the worlds problems.

I couldn't agree more. Its a thread derail, but what the heck. The problem for many is they have not been educated/indoctrinated with that one very important fact, so their children are given their education, and more important, their value system on the streets, or by TV, or by their friends, or by their left wing school teacher. This is going to sound funny, but I look at Donald Trumps kids and I am extremely impressed. For a guy I don't like very much(he's cheesy as hell), and with so many "rich and famous" people's kids coming out sooooo screwed up, I'm impressed with how educated, organized, earning, and out of the news his kids are. It almost seems like an anomaly for Hollywood.

/derail

My son is 4 and has a water gun and I don't mind if he has a toy gun. I believe in pretend play but I do not want him to grow up and own a gun as I think they are dangerous and take more lives than they save.

If you teach your child that a gun is for play - that is what he learns. If you teach your child that a gun is a tool to be respected and handled with safety at all times - that is what he learns. GUNS DO NOT KILL PEOPLE. An unloaded, broken down gun is as harmless as a block of wood sitting in your back yard. It is the action of the person handling the gun that takes a life - not the gun. Just about anything can take a life ... a knife, a broken bottle, a fist, a 2 x 4 piece of wood, a fork, a screwdriver, a tire iron, etc. The ability to take a life in and of itself does not make an object a bad thing. The way that thing is handled does.

Yes, and all of us, have that ability. The only thing that separates us from being in the place where we have kill someone is ourselves. not the instrument to be able to kill someone.