Lucky Shot

Airsoft gun is a dirty word in our house.  Over the new year a seventh grader in our neighborhood was shot in the eye by one of these pellet guns.  He had taken his mask off for a minute and thought he was out of the game.  Not so thought another child.

Fortunately, the injured child is going to be fine.  His parents threw out all the newly acquired airsoft equipment immediately and are telling everyone to be wary:  just because rules are in place (e.g., facemasks) does not mean these guns are safe toys.

It is worth noting that the twelve year old in question is a very cautious, responsible kid.  As his mother puts it “he is the child who never needed to be reminded to look both ways.”  Furthermore, his mother is one of the most sensible people I know.  She is smart, level-headed and is usually a “NO” parent.

Not so Lucky Shot

This incident has made my boys very interested in the Tamir Rice shooting. “Why would the police shoot a twelve year old?” my eleven year old wants to know. “It was pretty clear the gun was fake” piped in the eight year old after sneakily watching youtube clips of the incident.

It is interesting to me that neither one of them sees race as central to this shooting. That is not discounting the very real racial tension at the heart of the matter, but it is encouraging to see a child’s perspective. One of them looked at me squarely and said “I just don’t get why people would think that” when asked whether Tamir being black might have influenced the police.

From their perspective the safety of airsoft guns issue is much more thought provoking.

The heart of the matter

So in my world, we are now wrestling with a somewhat uncomfortable question about whether or not these realistic toys guns are appropriate toys.  My very black and white daughter wants to know “why people are even calling them toys when they are actually guns?”

My sensible friend maintains the incident has reminded her why children need boundaries.  No matter how mature they seem they are still children and do not always understand the consequences associated with a given action.  How many fifteen year olds do you know who think they are ready to drive?

I hope people share stories like this one, helping to institute appropriate boundaries within families and across communities.  At the end of the day, however, I think my kids got it right:  Race should not matter.  The police should NOT have shot a twelve year old.  Guns should not be toys.