Yesterday, Toby and I took the girls to a playground.  While there, I found myself feeling something that, at first glance, seemed irrational.  There were two boys there with toy guns - proportionately correct, plastic, and orange - one was a double barrel shotgun, and the other was some type of pistol.  They made loudish popping noises that sounded like a cap gun, and the boys (about 7 or 8 years old) were running around the slides and monkey bars, pretending to shoot each other and the other kids on the playground.

I was unsettled, and uncomfortable, and couldn’t quite put my finger on why at first.  It seems like there are two very black and white camps here…. 

Camp 1: “Kids should never play with guns.  It’s inappropriate because guns are _____ (evil, only for adults, dangerous, etc).”

Camp 2: “What’s the big deal?  Boys love toy guns.  I played cowboys and indians when I was kid, and I’m just fine.”

(I am of neither camp; I’m somewhere between them, but with lots of “buts” and “only ifs” thrown in there.)

Let me start by saying that I’m not anti-gun.  Actually, we own several of them.  We have them for hunting game and protecting the livestock on our farm (or quickly euthanizing a dying animal), and, god forbid, in case we ever need to protect our home (from zombies, of course).

Before you flip out, let me quantify that we keep the guns locked up and completely unloaded, with the ammunition in a separate, also locked up place.  Both adults in the household have taken classes on how to use and fire them, as well as knowing all the laws behind owning and using them.  Yes, we’re those kind of gun owners.  You know, the responsible kind.

At some point, the girls will know that we have guns.  At some point, if they are interested, they will also learn how to use them.  It is very important to me that they know how to disarm pistols, shotguns, and rifles, for example, since this can truly be a life saving skill.  They may choose to go hunting with my husband, or take lessons in target shooting.  This is fine with me.

What was not fine with me - these boys and the way that they were pointing the guns at each other (and other people, like my daughters) and pulling the triggers.  Even worse, when I heard one say “You be the police and I’ll shoot you.”  Even even worse; the father (I assume) and grandfather (seemed like it) were within hearing distance, watching and smoking (that’s a whole nother post) and not reacting in any way.

I can just about guarantee that their family, like ours, owns guns… it’s just the kind of environment we live in (and honestly, my own prejudice based on other visible and audible factors).  I can’t say whether or not their guns, however, are locked up appropriately, unloaded, with the ammo in another place.  I can just imagine these boys finding their families’ guns, and, well, you can probably see what’s happening in my head…….. another child fatality related to irresponsible private gun ownership.  My mental scene made me feel sick to my stomach.

Once I sat there and digested how I was feeling, I talked to Toby about it to see if I was nuts or in-line.  Then I called Carmen over and asked her how she felt about the boys and their guns.  I asked her if she thought it was ok to point a gun at a person.  She said “no,” but I still gave her a brief lecture on why I thought that their play was inappropriate.  

Please, tell your kids -

1: Guns can kill you or your friend/family member.

2: Never point a gun at a person, even in play.

3: If you see a gun, *do not touch it.*  Tell an adult right away.

Here are more tips about kids and gun safety from the NRA: http://www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie/infoparents.asp  Even if you don’t own a gun, or believe you ever will, please skim the article.