My kids don’t really engage in gun play (7 & 2.5) though during the summer they do like squirting people w/ water guns (we talk about not squirting people who don’t want to be wet and making sure everyone is having fun the whole time and stopping if someone feels like they’re getting too wet). I live in Northern California. Oh and their dad does play video games around them but they care more about Super Mario than shooting and are more likely to run around throwing fireballs than shooting guns

I'm a parent and a teacher (formerly high school, currently subbing all ages) in California. I don't care for gun play. I certainly wouldn't allow it in my home or in my high school classroom. High school students are definitely old enough to know better. As a sub, I haven't tried to enforce a no gun play policy but I do redirect when youngsters shape their hands into weapons.

I grew up in Italy and raised a son in the US. We didn’t allow toy guns when they were a preschooler, and they didn’t get their first nerf gun until they were maybe in second grade, when I had a better sense of their disposition and reasons for wanting to engage in that kind of play. I feel strongly about the influence of guns in American culture and propensity for violence, and want to de-emphasize them for my kid.

I don’t like it. But I think talking about pretend vs real is what’s important. Right now we say “guns are not safe and they hurt people”. We try to change the words for water guns, nerf guns like those are blasters and we use them for play. But guns are not for playing and are definitely not to be used on people. It’s such a big conversation that honestly more guidance for families about this would be helpful. I don’t believe in sheltering my son away from the whole concept.

Mom of a 4yr old in NYC we do not buy him or allow pretend play with guns, even water ones. I don’t believe in normalizing weapons as play items, when he is older I plan to teach him about them but right now he doesn’t understand the harm so he just knows they’re dangerous and not for play.

My son is five, and for the past year or so he's seen gun shapes in unexpected places (clouds, sticks, playdough) and wanted to draw them or make them out of cardboard. I've felt very conflicted. On the one hand, a gun is a real life thing that has a shape and he's using his understanding of that, replicating something he finds interesting and compelling. On the other hand, it's clear the appeal is the power of guns as weapons. He's fond of ferocious dinosaurs, battle play, light sabres... Cont

Very interesting responses, I’m curious how many parents will be teaching gun safety to ensure their kids know guns aren’t toys in general

VA mom & HS teacher…we have nerf guns, I had them growing up. My son doesn’t know how to shoot them (he’s 2.5), he just likes to bang them together bc they make a lot of noise, but they’re his dad’s. I don’t feel that nerf guns are appropriate toys to have at school, because why would we want to encourage kids to shoot at each other or targets or whatever? I think the larger issue is that people are not storing actual guns properly and also not teaching kids the difference between toys & weapons

Totally normal for toddlers (as uncomfortable as it may make us/others). However, we need to keep an open discussion about them—safety, sensitivity when “playing guns” around others (some people will not like that kind of play), the fact that there are some tricky people who use guns for bad reasons, etc. The conversations I’ve had to have with my older children have been heartbreaking though. 😞 Parent in USA.

Live in Vancouver, WA. Born and raised in the Seattle area. As a gun owning family we do not do gun play. We have specific conversations around guns and gun safety when it comes up, but we don't tolerate it. As a teacher I try to keep my values out of the conversation, but we do not allow it. We talk about how their family may perceive guns/gun play and about how that's the right choice for their family, but guns/playing guns can make friends feel unsafe at school so it's not a school choice.