Are Bubble Guns a Bad Toy?

[ssmjlm]

I know there's a lot of discussion regarding toy guns and I'm curious if a bubble gun falls into that category.

Brought to you by discussion stocking stuffers for E and her love of bubbles last night.

[stretchad]

I vote not. But then again, I'm considering keeping a bubble gun in the car to deploy when DS starts screaming his head off while I'm driving. Fire that thing up and the screaming will stop, I'm certain.

[mainelyfoolish]

Call it a handheld automatic bubble machine and then you're good to go.

[ssmjlm]

Oct 24, 2014 11:50:45 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Is this like a water gun that makes bubbles instead?

I'll be honest, I don't love the idea.

DH is thinking something like this:


Which I told him I didn't really like the idea of.

[chickens987]

I hate guns and will avoid them. Honestly, though, we have one of these and I never even made the gun connection 

[charlotteandwilbur]

DS has one very similar what you posted above and is obsessed with it. My parents bought it for him, and meh, I guess I'm okay with it.

From what I've seen in my neighborhood, it seems like dart guns/NERF guns are extremely popular with the 7-8yo set, so I guess this is my easy entry.

[ssmjlm]

Oct 24, 2014 11:57:48 GMT -5 chickens987 said:

I hate guns and will avoid them. Honestly, though, we have one of these and I never even made the gun connection 

I didn't think of it until we were talking last night.  I want to get her one of the no spill bubble holders and maybe a machine.  She probably couldn't figure out how to use the bubble gun.

But DH and I do have different views on guns, so I'm trying to have an open mind about it. 

[h]

We have them. But honestly, my stance on toy guns has mellowed a lot T since having kids. I hate guns. My H hates guns. We do not and never will own a real gun. My H has never even shot one. Initially, we planned to have a no toy guns policy. Then we had kids, and watched them make toy guns out of Legos, toast, action figures, hairbrushes, a Barbie doll (true story), and I did some more reading on childhood development and pretend play and decided that some measure of gun play is developmentally normal. I still do not buy toy guns beyond the water or bubble variety, but if someone else buys them one, they make one, one comes with their Halloween costume, etc., I don't confiscate it (though I would if it looked realistic enough that I feared it could be confused with a real gun). Nor to I stop gun play as long as all parties involved are willing participants in what everyone knows is a game (i.e., no going up to unsuspecting people and saying "bang, you're dead"). I am comfortable with this approach.

Honestly, both my DH and brother had tons of toy guns as kids, and they are both ardent pacifists and gun haters now. I am not in any way convinced that allowing some gun play creates violent people, teaches kids that guns are toys, or otherwise does anything with lasting negative consequences.

In other words, I have given up.