Archive for the ‘Guns’ Category

Stepdaughters of Sandy Hook principal speak out against gun violence

Friday, February 8, 2013 by:moms@sfgate.com (Amy Graff)
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Anne, Amy, and Beth: The three stepdaughters of Sandy Hook Principal Dawn Hochsprung share their pain and speak out against gun violence. This story originally ran on One Million Moms 4 Gun Control.

Anne’s Story

Dawn Hochsprung, left, sails with daughter Anne.

The afternoon of Friday, December 14th, 2012 was a typical afternoon. I was at home in the UK trying to set up some kind of international calling plan through my mobile phone provider. My kids were watching Scooby-Doo until it was time to leave for swim lessons. At 3:50 GMT (10:50 EST), that all changed when I received a call from my sister. I picked it up as normal with a cheerful, “Hey, how are you?” She replied, “Things are not okay. There has been a shooting at Dawn’s school. I don’t know any details yet.” It wasn’t until much later that my dad phoned with the horrible news that Dawn had been killed. One of my initial comments to my husband was, “We need to accelerate the move back plan,” but as the reality set in and I learned more details of that day I found myself thinking, “How can I ever move my family back to a place where this kind of tragedy could occur?”

I am an ecologist and I am a mother – I am not an activist. Before the day Dawn was murdered, I would have told you that the issues I am interested in advocating for are the environment, sustainable living, and education. If I were to get a chance to stand on a soapbox it would have been to shout out about the importance of public transportation and species diversity. Now I find myself researching gun control, emailing my elected officials, and putting out feelers to figure out how I, as an individual, can make a difference. It is cathartic in a way and maybe, possibly is helping me deal with my grief. I don’t know. All I know is that there is no way the status quo can remain. Whether that means stricter gun laws or addressing mental health or preferably a combination of the two, something has to change.

On my fridge there is a photo of my sisters and me with our dad; our faces filled with joy and smiles. For ten years, Dawn made my dad so incredibly happy. She put a smile on his face and, albeit cheesy, the spring in his step. I find myself looking at that picture daily and willing that smile to come back to my dad’s face. His life has been turned upside down, his well-laid plans for the future are now in pieces and the sparkle in his eyes has gone out. All because of one word: Gun.
Amy’s Story

Dawn Hochsprung reads to her newborn grandchild.

I’m embarrassed to say that before December 14, 2012, I hadn’t ever really given a lot of thought to gun control. Here’s how I’ve always seen it: guns equal killing, so less guns would equal less killing. There has got to be some kind of math equation that supports that theory, right? If a = b, etcetera? How could someone be against gun control? Do they want more killing? Doesn’t make sense. Yes, I know these are very simplified versions of a complicated issue (and I’m busy enough running around after a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old, while also teaching high school, to spend much more brain space on this) but at its essence, I believe my formula is true.

Then my stepmother, Dawn Hochsprung, was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary school. And my ideas about gun control, and the amount of space I began to allocate for thinking about this issue, changed drastically.

Now, I feel the word “gun” in the pit of my stomach. It is no longer an abstract concept; instead, it has weight and heft to it. It has become tangible. And ugly. I find myself lingering over the concrete details of Dawn’s death. How many times was she shot, when she ran out of the office? Where was she shot? Did she have time to think, and feel fear, and then pain?

Now the word gun makes me sick.

I’m no expert. I can’t rattle off statistics. Sometimes (I cringe to admit this) I just read the headlines of The New York Times and call it good. But I know what grief feels like. I know what that gun can do, how it can rip apart not only flesh but lives, future plans and dreams. I know what it feels like to have to walk down the stairs and tell my father that the funeral home is requesting “additional clothing items” to prepare Dawn’s body for the wake.

I had only known Dawn for ten years. I watched how she made my dad so happy. Her big smile and infectious laugh added color and vibrancy to our family. This fall, as I struggled through my own tough time, I grew to value and appreciate her even more – for her constant support, her phone calls and texts when other people in my life remained silent. I feel so thankful that a week before she was killed I sent her a card telling her that. It was open on the counter when I got down to Connecticut on that awful Friday night, carrying both my sleepy 2-year-old daughter and my shock in my arms. I’m thankful that she read it in time.

As Dawn’s stepdaughter, as a mother, as a teacher – as a human being – I advocate for a less violent world. Gun control has to be a part of that.
Beth’s Story

Dawn’s widower reads to his grandchildren.

I possess a certain personality trait; it’s one of those characteristics that can be used in job interviews when your future boss asks you what your biggest weakness is, like being stubborn (which can be flipped around to mean that you are perseverant). Mine is that I have always had a hard time having a definite opinion on issues. I would tell myself that “it’s because I’m open-minded”, or that “I have the ability to see both sides of the story.” But I have always wondered if it is just because I am seeking the approval of others, and by picking a side on an issue, would cause people on the other side of the issue to not like me.

Gun control has always been “one of those issues.” I grew up in a household that didn’t hunt, didn’t have guns. We didn’t even really talk about guns or gun violence. I now live in central Pennsylvania, where hunting is a big part of the culture, so big that the first day of hunting season is a holiday and kids have the day off school. I always told myself that I could understand where the gun rights people were coming from, even though I had no interest in owning a gun myself.

On December 14th, 2012 a young man forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and used a number of guns, one being an assault rifle, to kill 20 first graders and 6 adults. One of those adults was Dawn Hochsprung, the principal of the school. She was also my stepmother, my dad’s wife, and grandmother to my children. It’s been more than a month since that horrible day, and I have spent that time grieving, trying to be a support for my father, thinking of the other families who lost their spouses, daughters, and sons, and hugging my own children extra tight. And I’ve been thinking about guns and gun control. For what it’s worth, I can no longer see both sides of the story or remain open-minded about this issue. Something has to change so that gun violence in this country begins to decrease. We as a nation need to take a close look at everything from mental health to regulations and restrictions and start to form a reasonable plan to stop these tragedies from occurring. I may incur the wrath and disapproval of neighbors and friends who feel differently, but I, as an individual, need to get off the fence and be part of the dialogue. I owe it to my children to “be the change that you wish to see in the world” (Gandhi). I owe it to Dawn.

Dawn’s Daughters

Beth, Amy and Anne are Dawn Hochsprung’s stepdaughters. Dawn was the principal at Sandy Hook school. She is missed everyday by her family.

Beth Ewaskiewicz lives in Pennsylvania. She is an equine veterinarian and mother to three children. She spends her free time at the barn with her horse or playing the violin.

Amy Lawton lives in northern New Hampshire, where she keeps busy teaching high school English, running around after her two small children, and hiking, biking and skiing in her (admittedly not much) free time.

Anne Priest lives in England. She is currently working on a PhD in biology and raising two small children. When not immersed in her studies or playing with her kids, she enjoys running, cooking and gardening.

Boy, 7, suspended from school for throwing imaginary hand grenade

Wednesday, February 6, 2013 by:moms@sfgate.com (Amy Graff)
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Alex Evans was suspended from school for throwing a pretend hand grenade and trying to save the world. (Fox News)

Here we go again. A 7-year-old Colorado boy was suspended for throwing an imaginary hand grenade on his elementary school playground. Yes, imaginary—as in not real, as in there was absolutely nothing in his hand.

Alex Evans told KDVR-TV that he didn’t throw the pretend grenade at another student. In an effort to “save the world,” Evans said he tossed it into a box that contained “evil forces.” When the grenade landed in the box, Evans pretended that it exploded.

Even though Evans was simply engaging in imaginary play, administrators at Mary Blair Elementary School in Loveland, Colo., decided that the boy broke one of the school’s major rules: no weapons, real or play.

It seems like there must be more to this story but the principal’s account of the situation is the same as Evans: “He threw the pretend grenade at an imaginary box that had something evil inside.”

This isn’t the first time an elementary school has harshly punished a student for playing with an imaginary weapon. More and more of these stories are popping up in the media as schools react to the tragic Newtown shootings, questioning policies, tightening rules and asking how they can prevent similar situations from happening on their grounds.

Last December a 6-year-old boy was suspended from an elementary school in Maryland for forming his fingers into a gun and saying “pow.” Last month in the same state, two 6-year-olds were suspended from White Marsh Elementary School or playing cops and robbers at recess and using their fingers as imaginary guns.

Is it fair to suspend kids for playing with pretend weapons?

Most any parent of a little boy knows that these kids’ behavior is completely normal and age appropriate. I have an 8-year-old who lines up his Lego figures as if they were an army marching in a battle meant to fight evil forces and save planet earth. I’ve also seen my son turn a pencil into a machine gun, a chopstick into a sword, a tennis ball into a hand grenade. For a young boy, hands are for throwing balls, scooping up mac and cheese and shooting imaginary bad guys, and sometimes little sisters and moms.

Boys seem to be “hard-wired” with the XY chromosome that allows them to see a stick as an M60. Yes, this is gender stereotyping, but a survey of 98 female preschool teachers found that 4-year-old boys play superhero or enact mock fights much more frequently than girls, who seem to favor house or family themes for playtime.

This behavior can be unsettling for those unfamiliar with it. I certainly was alarmed when my innocent little preschool-aged boy first grabbed his fork at the dinner table, aimed it at his sister and made shooting sounds. I initially created all sorts of rules around gun play: You can pretend to shoot water or bursts of love and happiness but no bullets and you’re not allowed to point your finger guns at people, only at imaginary bad buys.

I quickly realized that my rules were ridiculous and my kind-hearted son who was thrown into tears when he saw that our cat killed a mouse wasn’t violent when he turned his fingers into a gun. He was simply playing.

Most child psychologists will tell you that gun play is normal, even healthy, for a boy. “Since the beginning of recorded time, little boys have enjoyed games in which they project their power into the world, and that means playing with ‘weapons,’” says Michael Thompson, coauthor of The New York Times bestseller Raising Cane: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. “I have no doubt that ‘cave’ boys pointed sticks at each other in threatening ways, or chucked rocks at one another, or imitated the spear-throwing actions of their fathers.”

Violent video games and movies—now that’s another story. I wonder how this school would react if they learned a kindergartener had watched Rambo at home?

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

NRA’s new target-shooting app for gun enthusiasts age 4 and over

Tuesday, January 15, 2013 by:moms@sfgate.com (Amy Graff)
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The National Rifle Association (NRA) made a strong statement against violent video games after the tragic Newtown shootings, but that didn’t stop the organization from releasing an app with an immersive shooting game for kids as young as 5 years old, according to NBC.

The new “Practice Range” app created by MEDL Mobile for iOS aims to teach gun enthusiasts, both young and old, about safety by bundling educational materials, tips, facts and news with a 3-D shooting game. By downloading the free app, users receive an M9 handgun for shooting targets at three different ranges—or they can upgrade to a Beretta or something more powerful for 99 cents. They can also read up on their second-amendment rights.

A description on the iTunes store says the free app “instills safe and responsible ownership through fun challenges and realistic simulations. It strikes the right balance of gaming and safety education, allowing you to enjoy the most authentic experience possible.”

The app has an iTunes age range of over 4 years but critics feel that a shooting game for preschoolers and kindergartners is inappropriate—especially after NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre came out against guns at a Dec. 21 press conference.

“Guns don’t kill people. Video games, the media and Obama’s budget kill people,” LaPierra said. “There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people, through vicious, violent video games with names like ‘Bulletstorm,’ ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘Splatterhouse.’”

But is the game violent or educational or flat-out insensitive considering that the nation is still mourning the death’s of innocent children? A heated debate is unfolding on iTunes.

One iTunes user comments: “Is this some kind of sick joke? The NRA complains about violent games and then releases one a week later. Sure you’re not shooting at humans but does it really matter? … I hope this gets pulled off the App Store.”

Others are pleased with the app’s educational focus and feel the criticism was unfair. They feel the game isn’t violent because players are shooting non-living targets.

One user writes: “Before you write bad reviews, play the game in its entirety. Great game for safety and reviewing safety. This does not prompt assault weapons, but how to use them properly and correctly.”

Another chimes in: “Good job NRA! Show people what law abiding citizens do with guns! Nothing like a day on the range.”

And other: “finally a fame where you are not killing people!”

There are also those who are indifferent to the political issue and simply feel that the app features are poorly designed.

“Either I do not understand how to aim the gun or this app is horrible,” one comments.

What do you think? Is this NRA-sponsored target-shooting game appropriate for 5 year olds? Was it inappropriate for the NRA to release this app only a month after Newtown?

Boy suspended after shooting classmate with finger gun

Friday, January 4, 2013 by:moms@sfgate.com (Amy Graff)
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Does a child deserve to be suspended from school for forming his hand into a gun? (Moving Moment / Shutterstock)

A 6-year-old boy was suspended from an elementary school in Maryland for forming his fingers into a gun and saying “pow,” according to UPI.

In a disciplinary letter to the parents, the boy’s actions were described as a threat “to shoot a student.”

The unnamed boy was suspended from Roscoe Nix Elementary School for one day, Dec. 21, and his parents are taking legal action against Montgomery County School District.

Robin Ficker, the attorney hired by the family, told the Washington Post that the boy “had no intention to shoot anyone,” She added that the boy is “skinny and meek. In his words, he was playing.”

Ficker suspects the suspension is a reaction to the tragic Newtown shooting as schools across the country are questioning their policies, tightening rules and asking how they can prevent similar situations from happening on their grounds. But Ficker feels that the school’s decision was unfair and that their interpretation of the incident will harm the boy’s reputation.

“They took the worst possible interpretation of this little child’s actions, and five years from now, if he gets into a tussle, they’re going to look back and say, ‘This is one bad little kid,’ ” Ficker told the Washington Post.

Montgomery schools spokesman Dana Tofig said in a statement that the suspension “the suspension “was not a knee-jerk reaction to a single incident,” according to the Washington Post.

In the school’s letter to the parents assistant principal Renee Garraway wrote that the boy had demonstrated similar behavior in the past and the school had spoken to him about it.

Was this young boy unfairly suspended from school?

We can’t have a strong opinion because we don’t have all the facts and we don’t know about the boy’s past behavior, which the school can’t legally reveal. But considering the details revealed by the lawyer, it seems like the school might be overreacting.

Most any parent of a boy has witnessed their sweet, cherub-faced son turn a pencil into a machine gun, a chopstick into a sword, a tennis ball into a hand grenade. For a 6-year-old boy, hands are for throwing balls, scooping up mac and cheese and shooting imaginary bad guys, and sometimes little sisters and moms.

Boys seem to be “hard-wired” with the XY chromosome that allows them to see a stick as an M60. Yes, this is gender stereotyping, but a survey of 98 female preschool teachers found that 4-year-old boys play superhero or enact mock fights much more frequently than girls, who seem to favor house or family themes for playtime.

This behavior can be unsettling for those unfamiliar with it. I certainly was alarmed when my innocent little preschool-aged boy first grabbed his fork at the dinner table, aimed it at his sister and made shooting sounds. I initially created all sorts of rules around gun play: You can pretend to shoot water or bursts of love and happiness but no bullets and you’re not allowed to point your finger guns at people, only at imaginary bad buys.

I quickly realized that my rules were ridiculous and my kind-hearted son who was thrown into tears when he saw that our cat killed a mouse wasn’t violent when he turned his fingers into a gun. He was simply playing.

Most child psychologists will tell you that gun play is normal, even healthy, for a boy. “Since the beginning of recorded time, little boys have enjoyed games in which they project their power into the world, and that means playing with ‘weapons,’” says Michael Thompson, coauthor of The New York Times bestseller Raising Cane: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. “I have no doubt that ‘cave’ boys pointed sticks at each other in threatening ways, or chucked rocks at one another, or imitated the spear-throwing actions of their fathers.”

Violent video games and movies—now that’s another story. I wonder how this school would react if they learned a kindergartener had watched Rambo at home?

Talking with the parents of your children’s friends about guns

Thursday, January 3, 2013 by:moms@sfgate.com (Amy Graff)
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Is there a gun at the house where your child is playing and is it locked? (Joe Belanger / Shutterstock)

Your 15-year-old son is sleeping over at his best friend’s house as he often does. Your son has been friends with Jake Johnson ever since kindergarten. You know the Johnson family well. You attend their annual holiday caroling party and coached the boys’ soccer team with Mr. Johnson. You occasionally grab coffee with Mrs. Johnston.

But do you know if the family keeps firearms in their home and if so, are they locked?

In the wake of the tragic Newtown shooting, many parents across the country are asking questions about gun safety and some are wondering if they should talk with the parents of their children’s friends about whether they have firearms and how they’re stored.

When I was in elementary school I remember my friend showing me her dad’s firearm, a long shot gun resting against the wall in the back of a closet hidden behind hanging clothes.

I didn’t share the incident with my mom after it happened—as my friend told me that we weren’t supposed to be looking at the gun. I don’t even think my friend was supposed to know it was there.

Parents seem unaware of how much children snoop through their stuff. In 2006, a study reported on in the Washington Post found that 39 percent of kids knew the location of their parents’ firearms, while 22 percent said they had handled the weapons, despite their parents’ assertions to the contrary. Parents who had talked to their children about gun safety were just as likely to be misinformed about their children’s actions as those who said they had never discussed the matter.

A few years ago, I told my mom about the incident. She was surprised. It happened at the home of one of her best friends. She didn’t have a clue that her friend owned a gun.

While my dad was raised in the wilds of the Northwest running through the woods with BB guns, he grew up into an adult who believed guns didn’t belong in a house with kids, and so our house was always gun free. And my mom seemed to assume that other parents living in the Bay Area shared the same beliefs.

Now, I share the same beliefs, and I make the same sorts of assumptions about other parents raising their kids in liberal San Francisco. My kids have gone on several play dates without me. I know all of the families well but I have never asked the parents if they keep guns in their home—but now I’m wondering if I should.

Several nonprofit groups aimed at protecting children from their parents’ firearms encourage parents to talk with their children’s friends about whether they have firearms and how they’re stored.

One-third of homes with children have a gun, according to Asking Saves Kids (ASK). In 55 percent of those residences firearms are in an unlocked place. In 43 percent of homes with firearms and kids, the guns don’t have trigger locks and are stored in an unlocked place, according to the San Francisco–based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. (I wonder what those numbers are in San Francisco? I’d assume lower, but my husband pointed out that we live within walking distance of a gun store.)

More than 500 children die annually from accidental gunshots: Some shoot themselves, while others kill friends or siblings, often after discovering a gun, according to the Post.

So maybe we should be talking to the parents of our children’s friends about whether they keep guns. But how in the world do you bring up a topic like this—in between your conversation about your holistic vet and the quality of the seafood at Whole Foods?

ASK recommends that you include the question along with other things you might normally discuss before sending your child to someone’s house—such as seat belts, animals or allergies. And you try to not be confrontational. Present your concerns in a respectful manner. You are simply trying to make sure your child is in a safe environment.

But is talking with other parents about guns that easy? Readers at the NYTimes.com debated this question earlier in the week and while many readers felt that parents should without doubt ask about guns others opined that gun ownership is a private matter.

LB from Chicago shared: “Why so nervous about asking? Responsible gun owners with children will be happy to tell you how they are keeping their children safe (and yours if they come to play).”

ACO from NYC advised: “Parents, please remember when your child is visiting someone, to ask about whether they keep guns in the house and whether they are locked and/or not loaded. It might be hard/uncomfortable to broach the subject, but not as hard as burying your child.”

Cindy Bradley of Indiana shared, “When my kids were young and were invited for a play date at a friend’s house, the first question I asked the parent was, ‘Do you have any guns in your house?’ Some thought I was nuts, but that was unimportant. If the answer was affirmative (only happened twice), I offered to host the play date at my house. No way was I letting my kid play in a house with guns.”

Andrew of Alameda, Calif., countered, “I’m not a gun fan, but whether you have guns in your house or not is no one’s business but your own. Who’s going to let your kid play at their house if they have to fill out a 10-page questionnaire first. Stuff happens. Sometimes, when stuff happens, kids die. It’s unfortunate, but there’s no way to prevent every possible scenario.”

Dr Duh of New York shared, “It’s a mildly obnoxious question, because it implies that the other parent is less careful than you are. It is a sign of decreasing social trust and asking only erodes that trust further.”

These conflicting opinions shows that talking with other parents about firearms is tricky and in many cases uncomfortable. I think you need to know your audience. The conversation a parent might have in rural America is probably different than the one a parent might have in an urban environment.

And possibly more importantly, you need to think about what you’ll do if the parent says, “Yes, we have several guns in our home.” What then?

Do you talk to the parents of your kids’ friends about firearms?

Paul Ryan supporters post images of their gun-shooting kids on Twitter

Wednesday, September 26, 2012 by:moms@sfgate.com (Amy Graff)
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Yesterday, while campaigning in Ohio, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan made a pit stop at Outdoor World to buy his 10-year-old daughter some camouflage clothing. We’re not talking about a trendy camo mini skirt. Ryan spent $101.14 on a hunting jacket and a pair of gloves for Liza to wear on her first deer-hunting trip.

“She’s going to get to go hunting this year for the first time,” Ryan told NBC News. “She’s 10 years old so she can hunt starting at 10.

“She’s been getting ready, she’s been practicing,” he added. “I just need to get her some clothes.”

Ryan also told NBC reporters that he already purchased his up-and-coming huntress a Remington 700 .243 junior model rifle last year.

Ryan fans went wild over his shopping spree and applauded him for exposing his daughter to the sport at a young age. Many responded by posting images on Twitter of their own young daughters shooting guns.

The flurry of tweets celebrating girls and guns seemed to start with conservative blogger and Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin. She tweeted out a message reading:

I took my 12-year-old daughter shooting this summer for her 12th birthday. Self defense is one of the best gifts you can give a girl.

Others responded to Malkin by sharing images of their girls with guns, and here’s a look at a few of those images that are circulating around the Twitter universe today.

 

 

 

 


Follow The Mommy Files on Facebook and on Twitter @bayareamoms.


[NBC News, Twitchy, Daily Mail]

Is new book on making LEGO firearms harmless or scary?

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 by:moms@sfgate.com (Amy Graff)
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This month a book with instructions on how to build four of the world’s most iconic firearms with LEGOs goes on sale. Should parents be concerned about “LEGO Heavy Weapons,” a book that was written by a 17-year-old yet intended for geeks who get off on gun porn?

Jack Streat is an accomplished LEGO weapons builder. The 17-year-old living in the U.K. can make an exact replica of an AKS-74U assault rifle with folding stock from tiny plastic blocks (No it doesn’t shoot real bullets! Think about it: The plastic would melt).

Streat shared his creations on YouTube and his dozens of videos have received over 16 million views. A video on building an AK-47 was viewed more than 3.3 million times and received nearly 6,000 comments. His fans cheer him on with colloquial zeal: “Like for awesome,” “OMG The greatest Lego gun ever!” and “You are good Dude!”

Yes, Streat has a huge following and his work is well-loved. That’s why No Starch Press, a small San Francisco-based publishing house, approached the teen about producing a book, and this month LEGO Heavy Weapons goes on sale for $24.95.

While Streat’s fan base is psyched some parents might be concerned because the book recommends using a well-loved children’s toy to build replicas of weapons designed to kill. When the same publisher released the book Forbidden LEGO: Build the Models Your Parents Warned You Against in 2007, Britain’s Daily Telegraphed dubbed it the “the Anarchist Cookbook of the nursery,” according to Fox News.

LEGO Heavy Weapons features building instructions for replicas of the world’s most iconic firearms out of LEGO: a massive Desert Eagle handgun with working blow-back action, the compact but deadly AKS-74U assault rifle with folding stock, a bolt-action Lee Enfield sniper rifle (a.k.a. Jungle Carbine), and a pump action SPAS combat shotgun.

While the LEGO guns only shoot plastic bricks they are strikingly realistic to warfare weapons—and this makes Jon Trew, a father of two who lives in the UK, uncomfortable. “This is very sad!” he says. “I’m not a pacifist, or a utopian hippie but I’ve always loved the way that Lego bricks never made very convincing guns and just by it’s very form, channeled children into being constructive, imaginative and creative rather than aggressive and confrontational.

“If adults want to make models of automatic weapons and realistic guns, let them do it, but not using Lego. Using the bricks for this purpose really undermines and subverts a brilliant children’s toy. The pictures made me both sad and angry especially as the founders of Lego have consciously tried to avoid their products being used in this way. It made me feel a bit like when you see pictures of 13-year-old girls used as models in fashion magazines, it’s just wrong, wrong, wrong.”

LEGO’s kits include guns and weaponry. But the Denmark-based company has long had a policy “to avoid realistic weapons and military equipment that children may recognize” from war zones around the world. A statement in the 2011 Corporate Responsibility report reads: “We have strict rules for the use of weapons and violence in our products. The LEGO play experience must never be related to real world modern warfare, killing, torture or cruelty to animals.”

Trew of Cardiff was so disturbed by the book that he wrote LEGO letter. He quickly received a response and posted it on the site BoingBoing where there’s a discussion happening around the book. The email letter LEGO sent to Trew reenforces the company’s policy to steer clear of realistic military weapons:

We’re always disappointed to hear our LEGO® sets are being used in this way…It’s over 50 years since we decided not to make toys with a military theme, and we’re still sticking to that decision! So although we now make loads more toys, I hope you see it’s still really important to us that all the LEGO sets we invent are fun, imaginative and help fans, young or old, to learn.

Bill Pollock, founder and president of No Starch, thinks LEGO’s policy is hypocritical. “Have you seen their Bionicle line? They all carry guns.”

Pollock is right. The Bionicle robots come decked out in all sorts of blasters and launchers. In fact, these days many of LEGO’s sets sold in toy stores all over the world include gun-toting figurines. They might not be realistic but the weapons are still big and aggressive. In a Star Wars kit, Storm Troopers carry guns that are practically larger than the figurines themselves.

No matter, Pollock doesn’t think kids will be the ones buying LEGO Heavy Weapons. “This is a book for geeks,” he says. No Starch is known for publishing the “finest in geek entertainment” and its bestsellers include Hacking: The Art of Exploitation and The Manga Guides. These books attracted a computer programming crowd and Pollock expects that the LEGO book will be popular with the same people. “These are geeks who are fascinated by military weaponry not gun-carrying members of the NRA,” Pollock says.

Dr. Michael Thompson, author of It’s a Boy! Understanding Your Son’s Development from Birth to Age 18, understands this geeky male attraction to guns. “I get it. They are geeky LEGO guys,” Dr. Thompson says. “I have one. He’s [my son and] he’s in art school. There’s nothing he’d like more than building something from this book. He’d have a blast with it. My son is fascinated by the idea of guns. But my son would never hurt anyone. He’s never even punched someone.”

Dr. Thompson says that many parents just don’t get boys’ fascination with guns. “Moms are always asking me what they should do about their sons’ violent play,” he says. “I tell them, ‘Violence and aggression are intended to hurt. but play isn’t intended to hurt. Play is play.’”

Dr. Thompson adds that there’s no research showing that playing with toy guns can lead to aggression.

But playing with toy Nerf guns and Star Wars LEGO figurines holding lightsabers is one thing. The guns in this book are incredibly realistic. Shouldn’t parents be concerned? “They’re not realistic,” Dr. Thompson says. “They don’t shoot. These guns are related to the impulse to create, not the impulse to kill.”

This is all true, but U.K. father Jon Trew brings up another important point: Could these toy guns confuse children into thinking it’s OK to play with real guns? “Whatever side of the argument you are on, no one in their right mind would want encourage children to play with realistic models just in case they came across a real one and thought they could play with it in the same way,” Trew says.

Dr. Thompson has a solution for Trew’s concern. “Talk to your kids about guns,” he advises. “Toy guns provide a teaching opportunity to talk about why real guns aren’t toys and aren’t safe.”

What do you think about the new LEGO Heavy Guns book? Scary or harmless?
Source and inspiration: No Starch website and BoingBoing.