Sale of toy guns at Disney parks a center of controversy

How stupid is this. Sivler Dollar City still sells the toy guns. I use to buy a different one every year as a kid. I had an entire collection of toy muskets, from the pistols to the rifles. Guess what, I haven't killed anyone, or ever used a gun in a threating nature (not even to deer, they look at me and laugh when I shoot in fact). As a true blue, American loving, freedom preserving Conservative this is just plan stupid. First Roller coasters now toy muskets! I mean if they were selling toy Bushmasters, then maybe I would be a little concerned (not all that much) but we are talking about guns that went out of style about the same time as the Civil War came into play. Let kids be kids! and let humans live there own life!

Toy Guns: Gee, we shouldn't sell them at theme parks.

Semi-Automatic Rifles - Available at a gun show near you.

At least we have our priorities straight.

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CPLady...you may have taught your son the difference, but how many parents do you think have taught their children the difference?!?!

Part of the problem with all the PC stuff is that parent's aren't taking active parts in their kids lives anymore and as a result, gov't/corp's get blamed. Certainly I agree that it's not right for Disney to feel the need to remove these items, but part of me believes that it is the smart thing to do.

It only takes saving one life to make it a worthwhile move.

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I fail to understand how people do not realize that issues like this, if allowed through, decrease the role lazy parents have to play in thier children's lives even further. Reliance on the government to raise your children is a terrible trend we have let our society start and foster. If parents are going to be bad, it's not our government's role to make up for it. Bad parenting can not be made up for by covering children's eyes or adding some more laws. If parenting were that simple, we wouldn't have many of today's problems.

It's society's job to make it so parents would never apathetically raise thier children in the first place. Idealized as this sounds, I believe it's a much better idea than relying on hiding reality in hopes that when it is exposed, curiousity no longer has any potentially dangerous outcomes.

and as far as the last scentence quoted above, I doubt you will find hardly any coaster enthusiasts cheering that one on, because if they were, then they wouldn't want any coasters, and we all know that's a most terrible idea.

Dale

Yep, sounds about par for the course: ban the toy guns, but keep the real ones.

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"When I was growing up, we were taught something called manners. You'd understand that if you weren't such an idiot." - Jack Handey

I really can'tsee what the problem is. I learned how to safely handle a firearm at a boy scout camp, and have been shooting pieces of paper ever since. I played violent game ever since the 2nd grade and have never had a problem with violence there either. I am no wacko who conspires to kill americans, I just like target shooting and violent games. If I were to go on rampage, sue me (not disney for 'instilling' a sense of american nostalgic violence:))

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How many rides must a man go on, before you may call him a fan?

And that's my point, Freakylick and Dale. Parents these days seem to NOT take a role in their kids upbringing. A child has trouble in school, the teachers are blamed. A teen becomes violent, violent programming on TV or video games or even music is blamed. Someone spills hot coffee on her lap, and McDonald's is to blame. It seems that the blame is always put onto someone other than ourselves.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

Excellent points everyone, soon Disney's villains will have only semi-evil plans.

I think that one of the biggest problems that leads to teen violence is not bad parenting, but the total lack of it. There are just so many kids that come home to an empty house. I don't think that we can totally blame the parents for this. Both parents have to work in a lot of families just to make ends meet. And then you have the single parents that have to work. There are just too many kids alone with no supervision doing whatever they want.

Banning toy guns, real guns, video games, music and all of the other things that people try to blame their problems on will not cure this problem. Kids try to push the limit to see what they can get away with. When I was young and pushed too far, I got my rear end paddled. Nowadays, there is nobody to punish a child for doing wrong and the child just keeps pushing farther and farther.

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There is a new twist in the Top-Hat. :)

Removing the guns is stupid, but I can't say I'm really surprised based on how many "dangers" that people want to remove from people's lives becaue they don't think that people are smart enough to think for themselves.

Reminds me of that shirt I saw at a Six Flags park: "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in numbers". That about sums that up.

Oh, and CPLady, one correction- this is absolutely not the brainchild of the ultra-conservatives. You've got the wrong camp in a big way. Why on earth would a group of people who support owning real guns push for the removal of toy ones. Sorry, but as even Jeff noted in his first post this comes from the extreme liberal end of the spectrum- people who think guns in any way, shape, or form, real or pretend, are bad things, and want to make that decision for others.

Jeff I know what you are saying. That's way I can not wait for the Target to open just down the street. They want to open sometime late next year. The walls have even gone up.

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Jonathan
#1 Coaster Fan

I can sum this up in one word: Ignorant.

"It's in our constitution to have guns!"

but wait... wasn't that law made over 200+ years ago?

and wait, there's no constitution where I live...

wait, theres no guns where I live....Canada.

seriously, guns = bad, I don't think anyone can argue with that.

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I AM CANADIAN
why aren't you? *** This post was edited by coo man chu on 10/28/2002. ***

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Doesn't Knotts Berry Farm sell real swords, maybe even real guns
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Knott's has a gun and knife shop, they sell real knives and swords. Many of the guns look real, but they are all "starter pistols" and only fire blanks. Knott's doesn't sell real guns.

edit: for some reason the quoting didn't work right. *** This post was edited by jeskola on 10/29/2002. ***

Coo man chu,

"eriously, guns = bad, I don't think anyone can argue with that. "

Someone is brainwashed. Guns do not equal bad. I just love your general assumptions. I own guns and I am a good person. This is a stupid debate. People need to quit there crying, get a grip on reality and realize it's a TOY!

Oh boy, don't let these people into Knoebels where they actually have a shooting gallery left that uses live amunition. (Ok, so they are BB's) but still hitting a real target with a real projectile is so much more gratifiying than hitting a target with a beam of light.

I can't name another amusmeent park that uses a 'real' shooting gallery, though I have seen several "Shoot Out The Star" games that use bb guns.

I seem to recall hearing that Disneyalnd had a live shooting gallery at one time before going to the Light-Ray system.

David

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David Bowers
Mayor, Coasterville

Mike: While I realize it's off-topic, coo man chu might not appreciate the "American perspective" on guns, but we get so wrapped up in the flag that we're just as guilty of not seeing the Canadian perspective. We go on and on about our right to bear arms, yet the Canadians (who can own hunting rifles and such, just not handguns) manage just fine without them. There's less violent crime, virtually no murder by gunfire and it's not a police state or dictatorship. People who oppose gun control in the US maintain that none of those circumstances would exist if we eliminated handguns, even though places like Canada and the UK, two freedom loving nations not unlike our own, seem to be getting along fine.

The Red Coats aren't coming any more.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, when it's all in your mind. You gotta let go." - Ghetto, Supreme Beings of Leisure

Yes, Disneyland had the pellet guns at their shooting range years ago.

Ah yes, the theory that no perenting is actually good parenting. I'm dealing with that one myself on a personal level. I've never understood this POV. Afterall, if the child makes all of their own decisions, what good is the parent? Most parents, even the bad ones, have learned from mistakes and successes in their own lives. I just can't understand why someone would withhold that wisdom from a child that really needs it.

Actually ....

Canada is awash in guns - 7.5 million registered (many of those handguns), with lord knows how many illegal ... in fact, until the early '80's, it was easier to get handguns here than in the U.S. Still ain't hard, just forms and cash ... We just don't use them very often. In that respect we are a very different culture.

Oh, and by the way - the United States Supreme Court has on two occasions ruled that the Second Amendment does NOT guarantee the individual the right to bear arms, and that states may regulate/prohibit their sale or possession. That's why you guys have, believe it or not, more laws regarding gun ownership than Canada does. Not that they do any good, of course ...

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Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.

Jeff: That is fine, I wasn't bashing the country. I however support my rights to own a handgun if I want one. It's my god given right. The point I was making was Coo made it sound as if you owned a gun, you are automatically a bad person. I own a handgun, because I wanted a handgun, not because I feel this need to go on a shooting spree. Handguns are not anymore dangerous than a rifle. The whole point of that post was to say just becuase I own guns, doesn't make me a bad person.