DADS TIME
BANG BANG - ARE TOY GUNS OK?
I have a photo somewhere of me as a little boy wearing a cowboy outfit for carnival.
I must have been four or five, maximum. But I remember the sheriff badge and
of course the two toy pistols I wore left and right. They were chrome coloured
and you could shoot a paper strip of caps through them which would make sharp
retorts. They were "oh so cool" then.
I never did the Swiss army thing, not being Swiss, so I don't have the same exposure
to guns as Swiss guys do, and – no – I don't have a rifle under our
bed. But I'm a Dad now and my son – who is seven – is naturally attracted
to toy guns. He thinks they're cool and I understand the attraction as I felt
the same way. But we talked to him, explained that guns are designed to hurt
and kill people (or animals) and that we didn't think they are nice toys. He
talked me into building him a toy rifle by insisting that it was a vets' rifle
designed to shoot tranquilising darts, and not to hurt anyone. We had to give
him credit for creativity.
But from a general perspective: Are toy guns okay as playthings for kids? I'm
sure our choice of a definite "no" is a radical extreme. Not because
we have an unnatural fear of firearms. I shoot regularly and own a number of
pistols I train with at the shooting centre up the road. I shoot pretty
well.
So does my wife. Shooting is fun and – conducted in a responsible manner – is
an interesting mental game: It teaches you to focus, to control your breathing,
to understand your reflexes and to fine-tune your muscular tension so as to work
with your body instead of against it. But guns are dangerous.
They need to be
handled with care and in a responsible manner. Agreed – that's real guns.
Sure. No-one in their right mind would give a REAL gun to a child. Obviously.
The sad case of young people going on shooting sprees (as just recently was
that
case – again – this time in Germany) and murdering teachers and school
kids just smothers any "fun" aspect guns might have as toys in my eyes.
I don't want to see my son grow up thinking that guns are cool toys. When he's
older, I'll take him to the shooting centre. I'll probably buy him an air pistol
and teach him to shoot carefully and handle a gun safely. But even today, when
I watch him play with (borrowed) toy guns, I insist that he not point it at people
or animals. I even taught him to keep his finger off the trigger until he's ready
and aiming at something safe to shoot. That's two of the four safety rules they
teach people in the army here. No harm done if he sticks to the rules. Also,
because they are "real gun rules", they are "cooool", too.
I believe that there is no harm in adults at least having a basic understanding
of how to handle a firearm safely, even if it is only to ensure that a gun they
come across is unloaded and "safe". But I get queasy when I see children "shooting" at
one another with toy guns. I feel uncomfortable when I see the way many action
films convince kids that shooting people is more or less the same thing as shooting
tin cans. "Bang bang" and the bad guys fall over like bowling pins.
No pain, no suffering, no mess. This is not realistic. Guns aren't nice toys.
They are messy, loud and they hurt and kill people.
Swiss law has also caught up with this, currently requiring a weapons-purchase
licence (Waffenerwerbschein) for toy guns that look like originals, for paintball
guns and the suchlike. From an adult's perspective, it annoys me to have to go
through more red tape to pursue this particular hobby (shooting). But from a
Dad's point of view, I think it's a step in the right direction. Not to outlaw
realistic-looking toy guns, but to encourage people to treat them with care and
with responsibility.
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Who wrote this?
| DANIEL SCHWARZ
CARIGIET Born: 1966 in Lugano, Switzerland - Mother American, father German Family: married to Astrid, father of Oliver |
 |
| Occupation: Freelance photographer / commmunications consultant |
|
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