A tipster pointed out Christopher Noxon's article on Reuters about boys who will go to any length to find a gun to play with -- including making one out of toast.
The funny thing is, I did the same thing -- although I didn't wait for the bread to be toasted, I just mushed it up and started shooting. It was the same basic situation described in the article -- mom doesn't want to buy me a toy gun, so I'll make one myself. She quickly gave up and procured my fake firearm.
One major difference between then and now is a four-letter word -- caps. Although you can still buy them, you won't find caps in every corner store you wander into, at least not in my neighborhood. Back in the day, I could easily refill my pistol at the same place I bought gum and comic books.
Noxon theorizes that the desire to shoot is genetic, and maybe he's right. But boys see characters shooting at each other on TV, in the movies they see, the video games they play -- not to mention what they hear from OPK (Other People's Kids). And in the interest of fairness, some girls like to play with guns too -- at least, Rosie O'Donnell's kids do (although apparently her daughter was mimicking her brothers when she did it.)
I'm not saying toy guns are a bad thing. Ultimately it's up to parents to decide what they want to their kids to play with. Although if you
really want to stop your house from turning into a shooting range, you
might have to ban bread as well.
image: Daily Mail
