# Bang Bang, You're Dead **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659 "2011-08-30T18:54:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/41 "2011-08-31T19:33:47Z")
Boys gravitate toward guns naturally. It doesn’t have to be taught or encouraged. My son started using everything as a gun from a very early age. One of my favorite anecdotes: He was about 5 and we were in a grocery store and he saw all the pretty flowers in the floral department. “Can we get some pretty flowers for Mommy? Please?” I acquiesced, thinking it was very sweet of him. As soon as I handed him a bunch of purple tulips, he turned the stalks around and held them like a gun, saying “Bang! Bang!” for the rest of the shopping. I’m okay with it. Like a lot of other things, he knows the difference between saying “Bang!” and reality. (But of course, I’ve taught him gun safety and I’m ultra-careful about preventing his access to real weapons.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/42 "2011-08-31T19:49:40Z")
My mom started off with a “no toy guns” rule, but quickly realized the impracticality of that, given the abundance of sticks. So she relaxed it to “no toy guns that look like real guns”. Brightly colored plastic things were OK. I never asked, but I imagine she _would_ have been OK with an actual real gun, so long as I made it clear that I understood all the safety rules. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/43 "2011-08-31T19:59:42Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I think it’s just more liberal stupidity. Ain’t just. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more hardcore conservative than my sainted, Catholic-church organ-playing mother, and she wouldn’t let my brother or I play with guns when we were kids. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/44 "2011-08-31T20:02:34Z")
> [@trupa](#): > > Kids need to learn to figure out their feelings of agression and how to deal with them. When should they be held in check. When are they justified. When can agression save their lives. Playing with weapons is a way to do this in an imaginary basis. To explore these issues in a safe way. Not that I disagree strongly, but I’d rather thought that siblings of about the same age would help with this quite a bit more (I’m essentially an only child, with much older siblings). > [@trupa](#): > > And he also knows that those cute cows in the countryside will one day become the burgers and steaks he enjoys… This info should be on Public Service Announcements on TV, radio, and billboards. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/45 "2011-08-31T22:16:30Z")
We were big into play “war” (toy / water guns) and “ninja” (plastic swords / sticks) growing up. It was the early 80s. We thought there was a very real possibility that some day we would need those skills for fighting the Soviets…or evil ninjas. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/46 "2011-09-01T14:17:22Z")
I don’t have a problem with my kids playing with toy guns. The only rule I have is that they can’t shoot actual projectiles at other people (which is apparently not the rule in many households, as most kids who pick up my son’s Nerf machine gun immediately shoot the nearest kid and have to be told that we don’t do that in our house). If the kids want to run around shooting each other with their fingers, or sticks, or anything else, that’s fine by me. They know the difference between play and reality. However, I may not be a good example to follow, as I made the kids padded escrima sticks (a martial arts weapon) and let then wail away on each other with them. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/47 "2011-09-01T16:24:26Z")
Growing up in the 60’s, I played cowgirl all the time, and thie most definitely involved toy guns! I’ve gone out target shooting with a friend once in my adult life and really enjoyed it, tho I don’t own a gun nor do I pan on getting one. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/48 "2011-09-01T16:30:49Z")
I don’t know what I would have done all day without squirt guns and nerf darts. The idea of my son playing with them does not upset me in the least. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/49 "2011-09-01T18:34:38Z")
Seems to me, [this](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/09/01/2011-09-01_north_miami_cops_shoot_and_kill_man_carrying_realistic_toy_gun_family_says_man_w.html)wouldn’t have happened if toy guns weren’t around. North Miami Beach police have launched an investigation after an officer shot and killed a man who was prowling through a neighborhood carrying a toy gun. The incident began at around 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday after neighbors reported seeing Ernest Vassell walking around with a rifle and pointing it at a dog, CBS 4 Miami reported. Police said they shouted orders at Vassell - which neighbors heard - but when he turned toward the cops, an officer shot him. Vassell was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he later died. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/50 "2011-09-01T18:40:50Z")
Seems to me the world would be a whole lot safer if we never left our houses either. Stuff happens, you can’t make the world a perfectly safe place. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/51 "2011-09-01T18:54:09Z")
> [@Foxy40](#): > > Actually from what I understand, our generation had one of the worst cases of gun violence in history when we reached our 20s. Gun violence has been going down since 1993 and I attribute that to people being aware and not allowing weapons to be used as play things. However, that is only my personal opinion as to why the decline occurred. (Well, a contributing reason anyway) When you say “our generation” I’m not sure what generation that is. Have you ever read Freakonomics? Regarding the violence going down in 1993… from [Legalized abortion and crime effect - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalized_abortion_and_crime_effect) > [@](#): > > Data indicates that crime in the United States started to decline in 1992. [… it is suggested that it’s because of] the absence of unwanted aborted children, following legalization in 1973, led to a reduction in crime 18 years later, starting in 1992 and dropping sharply in 1995. These would have been the peak crime-committing years of the unborn children. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/52 "2011-09-01T18:56:08Z")
How many other posters of a certain age hear the Smashing Pumpkins every time they see the thread title? ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/53 "2011-09-01T20:28:19Z")
> [@Foxy40](#): > > Seems to me, [this](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/09/01/2011-09-01_north_miami_cops_shoot_and_kill_man_carrying_realistic_toy_gun_family_says_man_w.html)wouldn’t have happened if toy guns weren’t around. Seems to me that wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have morons, too. Toy guns are legally required to have a blaze day-glo orange barrel (which many adults remove because [del]they are morons[/del] they want a realistic look). Either the guy removed his (and he’s a moron) or the cops shot first and looked later (and they’re morons). What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? If an adult wants to roam the neighborhood with something that looks like a gun, they can also just buy a gun. Having no toy guns wouldn’t have prevented this. People have been shot because the police thought the victim’s cell phone looked like a gun, too. ---
**Author:** ![Soliloquy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Soliloquy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soliloquy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659/54 "2011-09-02T02:09:00Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Seems to me that wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have morons, too. Toy guns are legally required to have a blaze day-glo orange barrel (which many adults remove because [del]they are morons[/del] they want a realistic look). Either the guy removed his (and he’s a moron) or the cops shot first and looked later (and they’re morons). > > What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? If an adult wants to roam the neighborhood with something that looks like a gun, they can also just buy a gun. Having no toy guns wouldn’t have prevented this. People have been shot because the police thought the victim’s cell phone looked like a gun, too. > **[Jim's Gun Supply Duracoat Gallery](http://www.jimsgunsupply.com/DuraCoat/duracoatpictures.html)** > > This is a collection of photos taken of firearms and acc. refinished in DuraCoat Not that any of these have orange tips, but it’s possible to paint a real gun to make it look like a toy. My own AR-15 is pink and very, very real. As a cop, if someone I’m in a confrontation with points a gun at me, even if it looks fake, they’re likely to get shot. Unfortunately, processes like the above duracoating will, in my opinion, lead to more people being shot. We’re all going to start assuming every gun, unless it’s clear plastic, is real until we touch it and prove otherwise ourselves. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bang-bang-youre-dead/594659.md?page=2)