3:40pm Wednesday 10th March 2010
By Naomi Loomes
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.”
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