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Does it bother you to have a child point a toy gun at you?

Asked by Trillian (21148points) September 1st, 2010

I was looking at this question and I got to thinking about what people teach their children. I’ve seen lots of little boys playing with guns and I’ve had the occasional one point his gun at me. I don’t like it and have straght up said “Don’t point that at me.” Parents are generally offended and tell me that the gun is not real. Or, “he’s just a kid. As if I don’t know that. As if a weapon in the hands of a child can do no harm.
What I object to is the unthinking intent, and the casual pointing of what is actually a weapon that can kill a person. I never allowed my kids to have toy guns and the one time someone tried to give my son a gun for a birthday I told him that my son couldn’t have it and his wife jumped all over him and said “See, I told you we shoud have asked first.” I wonder if there is a pychological disconnect that allows for such casual acceptance later in life.
Do you allow your children to point their toy guns a people? Do you teach your children to respect what a gun can do? With the commonality of video games that have gun related violence as the very basis of the game, to you think that it is a good idea to ignore this type of behaviour? Do you think they will just “grow out of it” on their own?
Just curious. I’m genrally in the minority with my views. I’d like to know how I fall out on this topic.

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