Argumentative Essay: Toys Are Not A Toy

Guns Are Not a Toy

The topic of guns is one of the most controversial issues facing America today. It’s so taboo that most toy companies will refuse to comment on their toy gun policies or reject the use of “gun” in any marketing. Many parents are having to make the decision whether to allow their impressionable young children to be exposed to and play with toy guns. Due to the escalating violence in our country and toy guns being mistaken for real weapons, many parents are choosing not to allow their children to explore gun play. Parents should not allow their children to play with toy guns because quite often small children cannot distinguish between a toy gun and a real gun, making it possible to injure themselves or others.

Most of our parents grew up playing with toy guns, shooting water guns at each other on a hot summer day, or playing GI Joe. Toy guns used to be plastic lime green, orange or clear and obviously nothing resembling a handgun much less an automatic weapon. In the age of technology, toys have become more sophisticated and very realistic. WBUR contributor Barbara Beckwith wrote of her own experiences, “At the megastore where I went to replace my grandsons’ broken squirt guns, I found only a make-believe but fierce-looking double-action shotgun, a black plastic Uzi that could pass for a

There are gun manufacturers who are developing guns to look more like toys, painting them in bright colors, tiny pink guns, guns with cartoon characters such as Hello Kitty and even a black handgun with an orange tip. Parents should not ignore that guns are a reality in today’s world but instead should educate their children on gun safety, provide a safe and loving home, limit their children’s exposure to television, discourage violence and keep an open dialogue about things their children have seen or