Sorry, Jimmy, You Can't Play with Your Cap Guns, Anymore

If an Arkansas legislator gets his way, the state law will be changed so that kids won't be able to play with realistic toy guns. Despite the fact that over the last century that tens of millions of kids have played cops and robbers only a handful have been in accidental shootings.

So, because of one tragic incident all the little boys in the state will be punished. There's no mention of the fact that the boys who have been shot were pointing the toy guns provocatively.

Rep. Otis Davis, D-Earle, has a personal connection to a boy who was killed in such an accident. I can understand his reaction. It's an emotional reaction, though, that doesn't fix the problem of irresponsible behavior.

Most boys know better than to point toy guns at police officers, especially in the dark. I can remember the last time a story like this tragic shooting made the national media. It was almost 20 years ago. In that situation, a boy pointed a laser tag gun at a police officer. I don't know if you remember this, but laser tag guns were not very realistic looking, but it didn't matter because the boy pointed it at an officer in the dark.

The real lesson is to teach our kids not to point their toy guns at police officers or adults, especially in the dark. When told by an officer to put it down, do it.

I can tell you this much, if this silly law, which won't prevent what it's trying to prevent, kids can still do what I did...buy a can of black spray paint.

Rep. Davis has the best of intentions, I'm sure, but this is a draconian idea. It won't accomplish its goal. If a kid points an orange toy gun at an officer in the dark, it could still be mistaken for a real one. The only way to solve this problem is to take the route of personal responsibility. Kids aren't stupid. When my parents told me not to point toy guns at adults or police officers, I listened to them. Apparently, tens of millions of other kids listened, too.

Here's the link.