Guns aren't great toys

"Hands up!" someone whispered into my ear, as I felt something cold pressing against my forehead. With my heart in my mouth I slowly opened my eyes to see my gun totting eight-year-old son standing by my bed. "Please can I have some food," he asked, still holding his toy gun in his hand. I fell short of slapping him but knew in my heart that he was oblivious of how he had almost given me a heart attack.

What message are we sending to our children when we buy them toy guns?

The much hyped Oscar Pistorius trial under way brings the issue of gun possession into the spotlight. My strong feeling is that Reeva Steenkamp would not be dead, Oscar wouldn't be standing in the dock now if he didn't have a gun. He wouldn't have owned a gun if he hadn't learned to love guns. Media reports are that his father, Henk Pistorius, is also a gun enthusiast, so possibly Oscar learned to love guns at an early age. 

The toy gun that my son threatened me with as I lay peacefully asleep was bought for him on his birthday by my husband. I protested against such a choice but it fell on deaf ears. Allen thinks there's nothing wrong with keeping a gun if one sticks to the laws governing their possession.  He feels that if an intruder had indeed come to Oscar's house, he would have been able to defend himself. I still think the cons of people owning guns outweighs the pros. A lot of lives have been accidentally or brutally  lost because of guns: A six-year-old girl in Bela-Bela, South Africa shot her friend with her grandfather's revolver, A Grade 11 pupil shot a bully using his mom's service pistol, and some fathers have shot and killed their daughters after mistaking them for intruders. 

Owning a gun gives people certain powers that they would otherwise not assume if they didn't have a gun. Timid, law abiding men suddenly become all macho and gangster because they are carrying guns in their pockets. Recently there was a road-rage incident involving a biker and a lawyer. Men that were deemed decent by those who knew them suddenly themselves either dead or in police custody because of guns they had on their persons.There are a lot of lousy drivers on the roads that make you want to pull your hair out with frustration, but we don't shoot them because we don't have guns.When you have a gun, however, it looks like a solution to all your problems. Violent movies do not really help the situation. Actors that have guns flying everywhere are very popular, they make gunning down several people look sexy. 

We buys dolls for our daughters to nurture them to be good mothers when they grow up. What message then are we sending to our kids when we buy them guns?