Smashing toy guns for candy

Rhode Island is having its annual "Holiday Toy Gun Bash" where kids are encouraged to bring in their toy guns in exchange for candy.

This is messed up for a multitude of reasons. It gets the demonization of guns in early. It teaches the kids that their parents are evil for allowing them to have the toy guns in the first place. Teaches the kids that disarming to 'authorities' for 'treats' is good and even fun. And it perpetuates the myth that these 'buyback' programs do any good whatsoever toward real crime.

WHO: Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch Providence city officials and City Council members, area legislators, community leaders, Providence police officers, firefighters, and educators, and lots of kids.

WHAT: The Department of Attorney General’s “Holiday Toy Gun Bash” is back. As at previous bashes, local youngsters will get free toys in exchange for destroying their toy guns in the “Bash-O-Matic.” This device was designed and built by students at the New England Institute of Technology and the Rhode Island School of Design.

WHEN: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2008 12 Noon-3 PM (AG Lynch to offer welcoming remarks at 12:30 PM)

WHERE: Pleasant View Elementary School, 50 Obadiah Brown Road, Providence

WHY: Because society needs to raise awareness of the dangers associated with guns —whether they’re real guns or toys. Lynch and other leaders will talk to members of the community about resources that are available to them to reduce incidents of gun violence and juvenile violence.Source

This one always intrigues me, because when I was a kid i had a fascination with guns and weaponry. I had a small arsenal of toy guns. Yet as an adult I am one of the most calm people you would ever meet, I have never been in a fist fight and would never consider having a real gun as it looks a bit scary (remember I'm from the UK where guns have been banned for decades).

What Im trying to say, is, from personal experience, exposure to toy guns as a child will not turn you into a gun slinging homicidal murderer

reply to post by woodwardjnr


Being from the UK as well, having an upbringing of guns, My uncle used to run a gunclub in the west end of London ( Jill Dando's killer tried to gain membership there once) , I feel that like any 'tool' there are those that are 'bad apples', but the majority are sensible , responsible adults.
More people were / are and have been killed by dangerous drivers than guns in the UK but are cars banned?
Bad apples in cars means boy racers, ywho teararse around town at speed trying to impress their mates. Poor drivers who have no perception and make dangerous moves like pulling out of side roads without looking, mobile phones being used etc.

When a couple of massacres ( Hungerford mainly) happened the Government thought that banning guns would quell the violence, WRONG, gun crime is up or at least on par with what it was when guns were available to the public.

Guns still are available to the public, just different types, you can still buy shotguns, sniper rifles ( even upto the .50 call range)and even semi automatic AUGS , but handguns are banned but still obtainable on the black market, even though you can still buy 'deactivated' guns you can buy the parts to reactivate them online.

The post office wouldn't know a firing pin from a grub screw in the post would you?

Baning guns in the UK meant that should the government turn against the people the people have no way to defend themselves, and it seems to be happening inthe US at the moment with guns for candy campaigns, they never work, nor do banning guns, all the firearms go underground anyway.

[edit on 11/12/09 by DataWraith]

Thats a huge load, if they do anything to crime it may lower crimes of passion a little. even then an angry spouse (or what ever else) may use a knife instead of a gun. hardcore criminals are gunna get illegal firearms whenever they want. all stuff like that dose nothing but take guns away from people who should be aloud to have them.

Why do children need Toy Guns anymore when they can commit even more atrocious acts of violence in their Video Games?

I'm not saying that Video Games are evil and need to be turned in for candy or anything, I'm just saying that Toy Guns are rather anachronistic these days.

I agree though that playing with Toy Guns isn't directly correlated with making a future violent offender. I grew up with Toy Guns (I miss my P38 I would carry in my suit pocket to make me feel like James Bond...or the many Water Gun fights, or Gotcha! games at school, or Lazer Tag ftw!) and I turned out fine and quite pacifistic and non-violent. My own daughter plays with Toy Guns and Swords, and is quite pacifistic and non-violent as well.

Bad parenting (or lack of parenting) can be directly attributable to making future violent offenders...not a child's imagination and playing with Toy Guns (or Video Games for that matter). Just because my 12 year old plays Grand Theft Auto and commits a hundred acts of vehicular homicide in a Video Game doesn't mean she's going to go out and do that in real life. I've raised her to be respectful and value all life, and allow her to live out her fantasies in Video Games or in her imagination...granting her the right to be a kid, so long as she maintains it through an adult's responsibility towards others.

This Holiday Gun Bash can be summed up as nothing more than a PR Stunt. It gets good publicity for the Politicians, but doesn't amount to anything more than just that. It will not decrease, nor deter violent crime in any stretch of the imagination.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
What Im trying to say, is, from personal experience, exposure to toy guns as a child will not turn you into a gun slinging homicidal murderer

HERESY!

I have called the department of homeland security and reported you for thought crime.

Have a nice life.

In jail.

Terrorist

Here I am a psycho my entire life and I didn't even suspect... All because I had a really cool arsenal of toy guns, and swords, when I was a kid. What must I be now that I have an actual working arsenal, though much smaller .

Huh...the things I learn on ATS.

This entire program is a crock of (I'm much too well brought up to say it). It's nothing more than a "feel good" publicity stunt.

[edit on 12/16/2009 by seagull]

I am with seagull. I cannot see any good coming of this. You are not supposed to accept candy from strangers.