Anger of £1 plastic guns for sale in Brighton (From The Argus)
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Anger of £1 plastic guns for sale in Brighton
3:40pm Wednesday 10th March 2010 in
Parents are furious over a replica BB gun being sold to primary school children for £1.
The toys, which come complete with plastic bullets, are on sale in the Poundland store in Western Road, Brighton.
Crowds of primary school-age boys bought several of the toy weapons from the shop during the weekend.
One of the youngsters was overheard saying: “They do hurt if you fire them when you are close to someone.”
The life-sized toy has a realistic loading mechanism which involves placing a plastic ball-bearing into a chamber and changing the air pressure with a pump.
The bullet can travel several metres.
The “City Police” gun carries a warning saying it is not safe for children below the age of three because the balls are a choking hazard.
The Argus asked Poundland customers what they thought of the replica firearm.
Mother-of-four Claire Rogers, 35, from Queen’s Park, Brighton, said: “I am in shock.
It is disgraceful.
“If any of my children came home with this gun I would not only take it off them but I would go in to Poundland and complain.
“The bullets could blind someone and, apart from anything, it is the ethos of selling guns to children for just £1.
The guns could get into the hands of older children who end up hurting someone.”
Mother-of-two Nicola Bray, 23, from Brighton, said: “If my fouryear- old son Mitchell started to play with one of these I would be furious.
“I would complain.
Given the real guns that are on the streets at the moment it’s not the right example to be setting.
Pocket money should not be going on guns.”
Father-of-one Graham Bell, 31, of Lansdowne Place, Hove, said: “When I was at school there was an age limit of 16 on these kind of BB guns.
“You could blind someone with one of these.”
A spokeswoman for Poundland said: “Poundland has looked into the sale of these items.
“The product has passed all safety tests and will continue to be sold in all Poundland stores.”
Comments(17)
Nyberg
says...
1:21pm Wed 10 Mar 10
NOT.
I'll take issue with the reporting of this item as well.
1. It is NOT 'life-sized'.
2. It either fires ball bearings and is a BB gun or it doesn't and it isn't. There is no such thing as a 'plastic ball bearing'.
3. It is not a 'replica firearm'.
It's a toy gun in blue plastic.
I know they are out of fashion now, and if you don't like it don't buy one. But to try and make out that they can cause injury to your kids or blind someone is ludicrous. Poking your finger in someone's eye could blind them. You don't need one of these toys.
If you don't want Poundland to stock them don't buy them. They will be gone before you know it.
ultiali
says...
3:49pm Wed 10 Mar 10
Poor kids these days. Not allowed to play outside because their parents are worried about the non-existent paedos on the lose and condemned as yobs the moment they hit puberty.
Uhta_Trufe
says...
3:55pm Wed 10 Mar 10
She-Ra, Princess Of Power
says...
4:11pm Wed 10 Mar 10
Don't see the harm myself, remember lots of kids having similar when I was growing up and I'm pretty sure none of them have ever shot someone... Total overreaction IMHO!
SW 'save-shot'...!!
Skippah
says...
4:15pm Wed 10 Mar 10
davyboy
says...
4:17pm Wed 10 Mar 10
Nyberg wrote:agreed. complete over-reaction. kids have been playing with things like this for years, with no problems.
Wow!! Looks exactly like a real gun!!
NOT.
I'll take issue with the reporting of this item as well.
1. It is NOT 'life-sized'.
2. It either fires ball bearings and is a BB gun or it doesn't and it isn't. There is no such thing as a 'plastic ball bearing'.
3. It is not a 'replica firearm'.
It's a toy gun in blue plastic.
I know they are out of fashion now, and if you don't like it don't buy one. But to try and make out that they can cause injury to your kids or blind someone is ludicrous. Poking your finger in someone's eye could blind them. You don't need one of these toys.
If you don't want Poundland to stock them don't buy them. They will be gone before you know it.
JRH
says...
4:20pm Wed 10 Mar 10
A schoolfriend of mine managed to blow a large hole in his shoulder when a shotgun backfired once. That was something worth getting upset about - but he was out shooting with his dad, he was using a loaded gun, and accidents happen - that's the reality of owning, and using, guns. He recovered, learned to listen when being told what not to do with a dangerous weapon, and got on with his life.
And, very probably, if enough kids have one of these, one of them will probably have some kind of accident with it. But guess what? The same is true of a piece of paper.
Is it just because we're in Brighton, that the idea of little boys being into guns is so abhorrent? Has noone noticed that there's a WAR ON?
simon195
says...
4:40pm Wed 10 Mar 10
zzzzzzzz
yorkie44
says...
4:49pm Wed 10 Mar 10
puddingandpi
says...
5:44pm Wed 10 Mar 10
BringBackGoodGrammar
says...
6:40pm Wed 10 Mar 10
BringBackGoodGrammar
says...
6:42pm Wed 10 Mar 10
SW- some more!
Jolly Rodger
says...
8:33pm Wed 10 Mar 10
The kids are too busy playing violent platstation games to bother with this!
Rita Snatch
says...
3:58am Thu 11 Mar 10
Banning children completely would solve this and many other problems. ;-)
Nyberg
says...
9:50am Thu 11 Mar 10
yorkie44 wrote:Definition of a 'gun' from a university website:
All the previous comments are surely missing the point that this IS a gun - which is a device for firing something under pressure. It is hardly a weapon but it is still capable of causing injury, especially to the eyes. Children's toys should simulate a weapon and not actually fire anything. In the old days we used to have guns with caps. We had the noise but nothing was fired. This is how it should still be. There is nothing like bringing up children to face a future of violence though, is there?
"a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)".
So this is NOT a gun. It is a toy.
Kids have played with toy weapons since the dawn of time. I remember having toys that fired pellets etc, in the 50s. Nothing is new.
I am a total pacifist and abhor violence. But I would never ban these toys or stop children playing with them. Play fighting is part of growing up. It's a way of testing yourself and also learning boundaries.
Playing with toy weapons does NOT turn you into a gun toting psychopath in later life.
oldskool_raver
says...
10:40am Thu 11 Mar 10
“If my four year- old son Mitchell started to play with one of these I would be furious"
is a reflection of their parenting skills!! I'd be worried if I thought that my child would turn into a killer if allowed to play with toy guns. As I believe my child is reasonably sane and knows the difference between real life and role-play, I allow him to play with them, my 2 year old joins in too!!
Should we ban toy cars as well? Sometimes when they are playing they 'crash' the cars, does this mean that when they are old enough to drive that they will just drive around crashing into other cars for fun??
The world's going mad!!! If you don't think that your kid is sensible enough not to fire the pellets at someone, just take the pellets away. Either that or take a parenting course to learn how to get your child to behave in a sensible manner and how to teach them right from wrong, as well as the differences between real life and play!!
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REPLIICA: Reporter Naomi Loomes shows off one of the guns bought from Poundland
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cheezburger says...
12:59pm Wed 10 Mar 10
Code word boomstick!