The Hello Kitty assault rifle that that "article" links to is from a satire website.

And I'm sure the parents will have nothing happen to them because, of course, they have already "suffered" enough.

I feel for their child but not for them. A pink gun in a house with children? Not so bright.

If people who own guns knew they were to be held accountable for what happened with those guns, you'd have fewer of these incidents. That the officer who left his gun in the car with three kids (and one kid accidentally killed other) and HE got off should tell you something about how we view guns in our country.

Keep up the crazy, gun nuts. Nobody is doing more to take all your guns away than you.

> But why do we have toy guns in the first place? What purpose do they serve?

Fun. Also, kids will make toy guns out of anything, including their fingers.

Why do we have toy guns in the first place?

Because not everyone grew up in a home of bitterness, bigotry & bullshit, like you did, Charles. Just like Ayn Rand, your distorted origins make it impossible for you to understand how Americans think. Some children can play without guile.

@4, this is pure ideology again. I banned all toy guns from my son's childhood and none of these these behaviors that you think are natural became at all common.

.

What @2 said.

Charles, did you also ban violent movies, tv, comic books and other forms of generally accepted entertainment?

When I was a little kid, most of the kids on my block, including me, were too poor to have many toy guns. Among the favorite games were cops and robbers and cowboys and indians and most kids used sticks.

Try all you like, but you'll never, NEVER, be able to legislate that stupid, irresponsible people should not do stupid, irresponsible things.

@8, Yet somehow seatbelt use became common practice. Is it 100%? No. But is it effective at saving lives? Yes.

Didn't it used to be that toy guns were made in colors other than black so you could differentiate that it was in fact a toy gun? What's the world coming to?

@2 To me, that's the worst part. We can't force everyone to live responsibly but we can and should punish irresponsibility where it harms others. If we ever want to get a handle on gun violence in this country, we have to start punishing irresponsible gun owners when their actions get people hurt or killed. Right now, we are not doing that enough. It won't stop every incident, and it won't make every person responsible, but it will make a helluva lot of people think twice about how and where they store their firearms, especially when children are present.

Kids will make guns out of anything. And sure, if every parent everywhere banned toy guns and our media never depicted guns so the idea of them didn't filter down to children, that might change, but then the kids would just turn other mundane objects into other kinds of weapons.

Humans are violent social animals. As kids, we are going to play act at violence, usually in groups. There's no point in suppressing that urge. Better to teach children to understand real vs. fake violence and discourage real violence except in rare cases of self defense as a last resort. But something has to happen with that innate urge to violence, and diverting it into play acting or sports or literature or cinema or whatever is the right thing to do.

And make real guns more scarce so that fewer children or adults kill themselves or others, whether on purpose or accidentally.

@8,

Why not? There are tons of laws legislating that. Some infractions lead to a fine. Some infractions (such as repeated incidents of drunk driving, especially if injury or death is a result) lead to serious prison time. Why can't we throw these stupid fucks in prison? At a minimum, it'll keep them away from their remaining children for several years.

Gun owners absolutely see being irresponsible with their lethal toys as their God-given right. And it's past time for the state to start throwing the book at them.

@13, Uhh, I don't think the majority of gun owners want to be irresponsible. I think the majority of gun accidents are related to lack of education on the part of gun owners.

I'm pretty sure the owner of the pink gun didn't say, "I'm going to leave my loaded handgun out in reach of a child because I can and you can't stop me!" More likely he/she didn't even consider/know that it was a bad idea.

@13,
While I agree that there should be laws and punishments when people do irresponsible things, it's also a fact that those laws and punishments aren't going to make those things stop.

Yeah, we should pass sensible gun laws, but we should also realize those laws probably won't change things much... there will still be mass shootings. There will still be massive gun violence. Getting rid of supply without getting rid of demand doesn't really solve the problem (e.g., see "war on drugs")

Tonderai's "son" probably has tits and a twat. Does "his" hair smell like ass like his sister's?

@14,

Oh really? Then why all the resistance to laying down the law on these assholes? Here's a sensible idea: any parent who is found to keep a loaded gun outside of a gun safe when the gun is not in use has his/her children taken away. How do you think gun owner parents would respond to that? Do you think they'll start locking up their deadly toys? Or will they just go bat shit insane as they always do?

No, never getting my (theoretical) kids guns. Real guns are way more fun to play with, obviously. When you're an adult. In the Phillippines. And it's not a gun .. more of a minigun. Yay!

But more importantly, if kids can make guns out of anything, why do I have to buy them? Jesus. Parents, save some $$.

Wait, the Arizona state senator was criticized for assaulting a reporter with a deadly weapon? Not arrested and given a prison sentence?