Toy guns ≠ aggression

    Ever since I came to the United States, I was never allowed to play with toy guns of any sort, whether they were Nerf guns, water guns, or imitation guns. I  never understood why a plastic toy would mean so much to my parents, especially because I never had these restrictions in India. In fact, each year, my and my brother would toy guns in March and November to celebrate Holi and Diwali. I have many core memories surrounding them, and never saw them as a problem. It's not like any of that violence, and killing was ever really going to happen in real life anyway.    

                                                                    (This is me in India)

    When I was in the third grade Tamir Rice, an African American male, age 12, was killed by a police officer for holding a toy gun in public. After hearing this,  I understood why a simple plastic gun, intended for the use of children to play cops and robbers was such a big deal to my parents. In their eyes, and the eyes of many other concerned parents and critics, Toy Guns, essentially, are the epitome of the major problem of gun violence here in the United States. Critically speaking, the normalization of toy guns, and encouragement of playing with them are the first places they are exposed to violence. What good is it to advocate for gun control, while your child is playing with one at home? But at the same time, children will still express emotions violently at some point. There are countless amounts of times when me and my brother got into physical fights, but this never shaped me into being a violent person. Neither did the fact that I played with toy guns pretty often when I was little before coming to the US. A Nerf gun, or a Water gun, (which to my eyes were designed with no malicious intent) is simply there for the sheer purpose of entertainment for little kids. Sure, nerf guns may desensitize kids to acts of violence, but so do TV shows, and video games. It is approximated that the average American child will see about 200,000 acts of violence online by the age of 18. So, it is safe to make the argument that children are more likely to become violent and aggressive based on their upbringing, and morals. Gun violence is a growing problem, but it is ignorant to blame it all on toy guns. There are so many other reasons why it is so much worse in America in comparison to other countries. Countries with significantly lower rates of death due to firearms do not have bans on toy guns. Despite this, People like Prager, the author of "Our Barbies, Ourselves" will continue to criticize toys and their creators for having bad intentions in making them. But sometimes it just isn't that serious.