Unless you melted them with a magnifying glass on a hot summer day, I don't want to hear it...

__________________
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

Been there, done that! Also fried ants with the magnifying glass.

__________________





"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

kinky!

__________________

I used to kill army men too. I would burn them with matches and build lego prisons for them and play POW camp. I also had this great canvas doll that was at least 3 feet tall. I'd tie that bugger up to a chair and whup the snot out of it with my dad's belts. I took Barbie and my teddy bear and played "Rabid grizzly attacks camper Barbie"
Oh, man, fun times!

I didn't let my kids play with toy guns either. Not even squirt guns. We have always had guns in the house. I didn't see any reason to muddy the waters when so much is at steak.
I had to send neighbor kids home when they brought their toy guns for play and explain to their folks that I wasn't angry but wanted my kids to view guns as life endangering. Some never came back because, inevitably they would figure out that we had guns in the house. Kinda ironic really.

My kids are older now. If they wanted to play with toy guns, they would be welcome.

__________________
...the government...is caving in...with their specious arguments couched in the...language of civil rights law, and that the churches ... likewise crumbling to...rhetoric which is nothing but heretical sophistry -- ~F Phelps
Platitudes like the one you offer are no different - and no less incorrect - than the jackass part-time Christian who says, "I'm going to heaven because I'm nice to people." It so misses the point.~Impugn

No sense exposing a 5 to 8 year old kid to the risk of deciding whats real or not. Assume they're all real, thats what I told my kids.

If kids didn't make stupid judgments about guns you'd never hear about them accidentally shooting themselves and each other.

It's not so much a matter of indoctrinating them into violent society or anything , its a matter of safety. It makes sense to take precautions with kids. "Don't play with guns" means ...don't play with guns. You want to pretend to shoot someone? Go ahead and use a stick/barbie/puzzle piece and pretend its a gun.

If you really want to be a responsible parent, wait until they've mastered the capability to make such subtle distinctions and critical decisions.

__________________
...the government...is caving in...with their specious arguments couched in the...language of civil rights law, and that the churches ... likewise crumbling to...rhetoric which is nothing but heretical sophistry -- ~F Phelps
Platitudes like the one you offer are no different - and no less incorrect - than the jackass part-time Christian who says, "I'm going to heaven because I'm nice to people." It so misses the point.~Impugn

Are you sure we don't live in the same apartment? I can't even count the amount of drunken samurai, ninjas and Scotsman I've had at my place.

I've long ago moved my few swords into my bedroom when I know people are going to be drinking. There's just something about them that make people wanna pick them up and swing them around after a few drinks...

As for the OP, I find the idea ridiculous. Toy guns are possibly one of the most popular play things for kids. From nerf guns, to BB guns, to cap guns to water guns, if your thoughts were correct, most of the population would be gun wielding murderers.

__________________
“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” - Carl Sagan

What about toy cars? Would you allow your kids to race those? Why, or why not?

My son has never been very interested in guns, except water guns. In fact, he just got a new big super soaker today from his teacher. He likes to shoot his BB gun every once in a while. He much prefers swords or light sabers. I used to have to buy swords and light sabers two or three at a time because if Alec had one then daddy needed one and then if a friend came over...well, you get the idea. He also was never really into hot wheels, but now he wants to be a race car driver.

1. Its a little more difficult for a kid to open a heavy door, hop in the driver seat, get the keys, get the right keys, put them in the ignition, push on the gas pedal. Note***My 3 year old nephew hopped into my parked car, put it into neutral and hopped out. We found it a half mile away the next morning. It was quite a hill so I suppose it could have run over someone and killed them. But this is a little different than finding a gun and pulling a trigger. The gun a kid finds doesn't have to be in his own house you know. You can't protect him from other kids parents/neighbors etc...

2. Do you think a kid can tell the difference between a 1000+ lb car and a toy? I think it is far more reasonable to believe you could instruct your child about the difference between real cars and toys vs real guns and fake guns.

Please tell me you were arguing for arguments sake and not because you hadn't thought about that.

__________________
...the government...is caving in...with their specious arguments couched in the...language of civil rights law, and that the churches ... likewise crumbling to...rhetoric which is nothing but heretical sophistry -- ~F Phelps
Platitudes like the one you offer are no different - and no less incorrect - than the jackass part-time Christian who says, "I'm going to heaven because I'm nice to people." It so misses the point.~Impugn

Super soakers were an exception for me.

__________________
...the government...is caving in...with their specious arguments couched in the...language of civil rights law, and that the churches ... likewise crumbling to...rhetoric which is nothing but heretical sophistry -- ~F Phelps
Platitudes like the one you offer are no different - and no less incorrect - than the jackass part-time Christian who says, "I'm going to heaven because I'm nice to people." It so misses the point.~Impugn

At twenty four I still play war, I just use better toys.

__________________
During the journey we commonly forget its goal. Almost every profession is chosen as a means to an end but continued as an end in itself. Forgetting our objectives is the most frequent act of stupidity.
-Friedrich Nietzsche, The Wanderer and his Shadow

All good socialists have villas in Southern France. That's not the point.
-Eurosocialist

You're right - its far too difficult to teach them, so lets instead pretend they dont exist. While we're at it, lets disarm all the adults because a child might not know the difference.

Sarcasm aside - my daughter at 1-1/2 could tell the difference between 2 remote controls - identical save for one having no batteries. Somehow I'm thinking a 7 year old, for instance, MIGHT notice the difference between a toy gun weighing 4oz and a real one weighing 2.5lbs.

Kids are a lot smarter than you're giving them credit for, and parents are more capable than you want to believe. Just because YOU may not know how to teach, do not dare to presume that others may not.

__________________
In case you were wondering, yes, there really ARE more idiots these days....technology has made natural selection obsolete.

Silence is golden...Duct tape is silver.

No, I was not arguing for argument's sake. That was a valid point, and many others have brought it up, albeit in different ways. Did you read the entire thread?

Similarly, it's not that easy for a kid to find/use a gun kept out of sight and in hard to access places, such as a locked closet, for instance.

I don't really see whats so different. You should be glad nothing untoward happened.

Do you think a kid can a) figure out how much a car weighs

b) Not tell the difference between an actual revolver/rifle, which by the way would be HEAVY and a toy gun?

Sorry, but I disagree. If you have something to counter my point, do so by all means, but simply making comments like "you are arguing for argument's sake" doesn't cut it.

Even if I WAS arguing for argument's sake, my point is valid, unless you can disprove it or come up with a counter argument.

I doubt most kids could pick up a gun, turn off the safety, load it, cock it, and shoot it. Even if it's loaded and the safety's off (terrible parent) triggers can be pretty hard to pull for a little kid. Plus... toy guns are usually small and plastic. ALL toy guns, anything that doesn't shoot a metal projectile, are required to have bright orange tips (I'm pretty sure this is nation-wide). Any kid should be able to tell the difference.

__________________