Toy guns are the favorite toys of many kids, especially boys. They love to have ‘wars’ when they play with their siblings, with other kids or even with their parents. This type of plaything is a legitimate toy for kids; however, you should still have to understand the safety implications of these toys before deciding to buy them for your kids.
Safety Implications with Toy Guns
1. Its Comparison with the Real Thing
Even if toys guns have been created to be harmless for kids, they still represent something that can cause harm which is a real gun. Whether you will or will not let your child play with this type of toy, it is quite difficult to avoid them. This is because your kids may see them in advertisements, stores or friends and this can easily make them interested in playing with it.
Because of this, it is very important for you to use this toy as an opportunity to give your kids some advice about gun safety. There are some that really looks like the real gun and this may cause them to use a real gun as a toy whenever they see it. Due to this reason, you should always remind them never to use or even touch real guns if they see one.
2. Safety Concerns
There are some important safety concerns that you need to consider when it comes to this type of toy for your kids. Other than what was mentioned above, another risk for letting them play with this toy is that your child may get stopped by a police because of playing in public. Because of this risk, it is very important that you choose to buy those fake looking guns which are made of plastic and are designed with various bright colors.
Another thing to keep in mind is to think that even though it is just a toy, it can still cause injury to your kids and to others. There are many guns sold in toy stores nowadays that include BBs, pellets and other materials. Before buying it, you should check the age recommendation to know if it is safe for your kids. When you have older kids, you should allow them to wear eye protection gear to avoid injuries or accidents.
A lot of parents do limit their children to only use this toy indoors. The idea for this is to stop their kids from getting used to shooting other people with the use of their gun. Other than that, they will not also get used to constantly carrying it around especially at school.
By keeping these safety concerns in mind, you will be able to avoid your kids from causing injuries to themselves and to others. Always remember that most people who have tried playing with this kind of toy haven’t become irresponsible gun users and this is primarily because those people have been properly guided during their childhood. However, if you don’t want your kids playing with actual toy guns, you could let them learn some of these skills in kids video games.
YOu say there’s a risk they might be stopped by the police when they’re playing with a toy gun. Hell, if they’re black, they might be SHOT by the police for playing with a toy gun.
That sure was a terrible thing that happened in Cleveland. A similar thing happened back in the summer in CA too. Without going into the rights and wrongs of individual cases, it’s vital that parents make sure their kids leave the orange safety tabs on their toy guns because police definitely look for that, and if it’s not there, they’ll likely conclude the gun is real. Problem is, of course, kids want their guns to look real, so they oftentimes take it off.
Everett, I have actually been studying this topic for a long time now. There are no ways to be sure kids will be safe with guns except to start them learning very young that you never point them at anybody even if they are a toy. And buy toys that are clearly toys like you say. Bright colors are good.
Lets not get into the whole gun freedom issue here
Kids like to cycle. But not with their parent, which kind of defeats the purpose. (And not that that sidewalk riding is a good solution at all, given that much of our cities have 10′ sidewalks and high pedestrian volumes).
Thanks!
I didn’t worry about all of this stuff when I had young kids, I guess I did not have time. Now I have grandkids and I spend all day thinking about the terrible things that can happen. What to do?