Should toy guns be banned? (Debate).When Maurice Davis was 11, he watched his friend point a toy gun at a police car. The police officers inside thought that the toy was a real weapon. They chased after the boys, waving their guns."I told my friend, 'Just drop the gun!"' Davis says about the frightening incident. Many U.S. lawmakers worry that toy guns pose a threat to safety. They cite cases where such guns were mistaken for real ones, prompting police officers and others to open fire. Legislators in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. introduced a bill last fall to ban the sale of all toy guns. The ban came partly in response to a tragic incident involving a 16-year-old. The youth was killed by a police officer after holding a pellet gun a gun that fires small pellets, less than 3 mm diameter, usually made of metal. See also: Pellet to another officer's head. Rick Locker Things commonly known as lockers include:
"To blame toys when the real issue is criminal intent is . . . a quick fix," says Locker. "You could create out of wood or a flashlight something that could fool [police officers] just as easily as a toy gun. What do you think? Should toy guns be banned? Yes: Banning all toy guns would help keep everyone safer. Even brightly colored and transparent guns are dangerous. Kids can make them look real simply by spray painting them black. Besides, kids get the wrong message when they play with guns. "We shouldn't glorify guns by giving them to our kids as toys," says David Weprin David I. Weprin (born May 2, 1956) is a council member in the New York City Council from district 23 in Queens. He is also the former Deputy Superintendent of the New York State Banking Commission and former Chairman of New York's Securities Industry Association. He is a Democrat. , a Councilman in Queens, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , and co-author co·au·thor or co-au·thor n. A collaborating or joint author. tr.v. co·au·thored, co·au·thor·ing, co·au·thors To be a collaborating or joint author of: "He and a colleague . . . of the bill banning guns in New York City. Maria, a seventh-grader from New York City agrees: "I don't think we even need toy guns if they're just going to scare people." No: Banning toy guns ignores the real issue: criminal behavior. Owning a toy gun has nothing to do with the fact that some kids commit dangerous, lawless LAWLESS. Without law; without lawful control. acts. "Crime is part of a much greater social problem," says Joanne Weisman, a New Jersey mother of three. "Taking away toy guns won't solve violence. Anyone who uses a toy gun to commit a crime will find another "weapon" if such guns are banned. Instead of banning toy guns, we should address the behavior behind criminal acts and focus on teaching kids respect, kindness, and love. Most kids know the difference between real and pretend anyway, and keep toy guns where they belong--in harmless The term harmless may be taken in several ways:
"I used to play with toy guns when I was little," says Weisman. "But I knew fantasy from reality." |
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