Do your kids play "guns"?

[The Miner Part 2]

i remember, during childhood, i played gun games all the time. you know like cops and robbers, anything involving guns. i was just curious if kids still do this? i live in a neighborhood with a good amount of kids and i never see them horsing around like that. i know all the incidents involving kids and guns the last decade or so has led to crackdowns on how products, like toy weapons, are marketed to children, im just not sure how effective the crackdown has been in kids day to day lives.

so do you parents notice your kids playing games involving guns less?

[awwchrist]

my kids aren't old enough to play guns.

However, my friend's son is seven. A year ago, his mother flipped out and cut off all of the barrels off every gun and toy tank on all his army men.

hehehehehe

That's a great bit to bring up over cards and coffee.

[Pete123444]

BOys have always played cops and robbers or cowboys and indians or played as army men shooting their guns at imaginary foes. If parents continue to take this away I wonder if it will have a sissy effect on our young boys?

[J2thez929]

BOys have always played cops and robbers or cowboys and indians or played as army men shooting their guns at imaginary foes. If parents continue to take this away I wonder if it will have a sissy effect on our young boys?

Hmm. Good point. Maybe we should ask Deluxe?

[Omaha Red Sox]

My kid plays guns. He knows the difference between reality and pretending. We were shooting real guns the other day and he wasn't really that interested. The butt of the .22 rifle was a bit long for him so he couldn't set up a good sight. He was more interested in finding all the spent cartridges.

[Pete123444]

My kid plays guns. He knows the difference between reality and pretending. We were shooting real guns the other day and he wasn't really that interested. The butt of the .22 rifle was a bit long for him so he couldn't set up a good sight. He was more interested in finding all the spent cartridges.

I remember when I first took my son Luke fishing. He was much more interested in throwing rocks in the water than fishing. But as he grew up he loved to fish and still does. Pretty much the same thing. Soon your son will become more interested in that .22 and he may just love hunting!

I'm old school. I think boys should be more aggressive than girls. I believe men should spank their children when necessary. Not like the opposite they're teaching today, "spanking teaches violence" crap. Men should be men. Sorry if I'm going off topic, but I don't believe I am.

[Madison]

I'm old school. I think boys should be more aggressive than girls. I believe men should spank their children when necessary. Not like the opposite they're teaching today, "spanking teaches violence" crap. Men should be men. Sorry if I'm going off topic, but I don't believe I am.

Agreed. I was spanked as a kid, and my son is no different.


As to playing guns, my boy does it all the time. Be it with army action figures, Nerf guns (man Nerf makes some cool stuff now!), water guns, toy guns, or just plain old make a gun out of his hand and shoot, he plays guns all the time. He knows the difference in toys/cartoons/pretend vs. reality, and that's what matters.

[Omaha Red Sox]

My kid plays guns. He knows the difference between reality and pretending. We were shooting real guns the other day and he wasn't really that interested. The butt of the .22 rifle was a bit long for him so he couldn't set up a good sight. He was more interested in finding all the spent cartridges.

I remember when I first took my son Luke fishing. He was much more interested in throwing rocks in the water than fishing. But as he grew up he loved to fish and still does. Pretty much the same thing. Soon your son will become more interested in that .22 and he may just love hunting!

I'm old school. I think boys should be more aggressive than girls. I believe men should spank their children when necessary. Not like the opposite they're teaching today, "spanking teaches violence" crap. Men should be men. Sorry if I'm going off topic, but I don't believe I am.

Great post, Pete. I think parents have gotten too far away from their responsibilities. They've forgotten that they're raising future men and women.

[josebach]

Boys have always played cops and robbers or cowboys and indians or played as army men shooting their guns at imaginary foes. If parents continue to take this away I wonder if it will have a sissy effect on our young boys?

Boys will be boys with or without toy guns. I think kids "playing guns" is just fine as long as the parent does a good job of explaining to the kid how dangerous real guns are. I personally feel that a lot of gun accidents involving children occur because parents don't educate their children about guns and gun safety. Think about it... sooner or later, during the course of one's life, your child WILL come into contact with a gun. When that time comes, do you want your child to be completely ignorant about guns?... to know nothing about gun safety?

[BrutallyHuge]

I buy my kids real guns. They need to learn consequences early in life.