No weaponry and violence in City sets?!

[-JaMMiT-]

Lego do not need guns in city sets as the city sets are more for children if you want violence go and get stuck into other sets.

[The Dutch Guy]

No for me too. Let's keep lego something that is suiteble for the smal kids. There is to much violence on TV shows (Cartoons) today. Don't force violence upon our kids en keep lego clean

[Fuzzylegobricks]

i say we should get some of their hospital theme, but the thing is the city doesnt need violents!

[Dhivael]

This is actually a really good question. It's not as if TLG doesn't already have molds for revolvers and rifles or a history of not putting weapons in the hands of it's minifigs.

That said, I actually fall in the camp that voted no. I prefer the peaceful civilian life of the city where weapons are not required-- there are not many toys out there that do not include weapons.

Additionally, (and not to contradict myself) to the gentleman above who pointed out that he used to build weapons for his city, I actually find that creativity stimulating. Why not continue to leave out weapons and let people design their own?

[JurassicBrick]

I'm inclined to vote no, and this is from a huge gun fan and the owner of a wide variety of Lego weaponry. While I wouldn't be opposed to the inclusion of the occasional gun, I'd be more worried that every police set would become a cops and robbers shoot-out and one of the things I've always like about Lego City was the fact that there was more to it than that. That said, I would love a SWAT team or bank robbery set.

[fire117]

I voted yes. I want guns in the lego city sets. It would make perfect sense for criminals to have guns and vice versa for police.

[Gongoro73]

I voted no.

[beeman101]

Voted NO !

There is a lot of custom stuff (Lego compatible) for the more mature audience/clientele... Mainstream Lego imho should be violence free implied or otherwise !

[Moebius118]

I am inclined to vote no, even though I am a devout proponent for guns. Although the presence of firearms should not be associated with "violence" I do not think LEGO city is in need of any firearms type of narrative. The bandits are still able to freely run amok and rob banks without them and the police are still able to apprehend them without aid of such weapons. The presence of modern weapons seems unnecessary and I fear it could possibly degrade the theme from focusing on city life but instead towards a minifig arms race and martial law.

The presence of a gun in a toy line tends to direct a lot of the attention and imagination among the young ones. So I can understand the concern even if the adult fans are more likely to use the pieces simply as decoration in a police armory room.

Besides. For those of us who absolutely must have them we can borrow guns from the other themes or from Brickarms. :)

Ultra Agents and such "action themes" seems to be moving closer and closer every year to bringing modern firearms to the city however.

Edited October 24, 2014 by Moebius118

[TheLegoDr]

The stud shooter from Star Wars is acceptable, but its use in Agents isn't?

I realize "space guns" aren't realistic so they are somehow allowed and modern weaponry wouldn't be allowed because kids could conceivably use it if they got their hands on something, but I still don't follow how LEGO thinks space and medieval weapons are okay but modern weapons aren't. To me, violence is violence. I love(d) castle/pirates as a kid and as an adult, and I was completely aware of fantasy vs reality, but looking back I don't see how LEGO justifies their policy and what they choose to follow. But I guess that is typical with any company or individual...

[Hrw-Amen]

On a personal note I think I would have to vote No. Odd, as some of my CITY police (And criminals) do have guns imported from other themes. It would not really bother me if the occasional policeman or criminal had a gun, but it would if they all did as this would not reflect the reality of where I live, it is the exception rather than the rule, but not never seen.

I think though that it is my choice to do that. I am pleased it is not thrust on children in a real to life theme. It is one thing to have conflict in fantasy and I think most people, even children realise that this fantasy and not real life. Whilst some police where I am do have guns, it is normally only in extreme circumstances and you do not see them every day on the street. As such this is the case in my LEGO CITY.

[paul_delahaye]

I vote no, and pray for a few years without police sets :-)

[AlcoEmmen]

Simply NO, there is already a enormous police force in city, that adding guns would really be overkill (pardon the pun)

[Ardelon]

I vote yes, it would expand the possibilites of play, and armed policemen are a fact of life in many developed coutries, without any negative consequences like sliding into violence or a police state.

To those saying its simple to add guns from other themes, I reply that it would be even simpler to remove guns from City sets, if you so wish.

As for the fantasy vs real life argument, I would say City is just as fantastical as Indiana Jones/Pirates/Castle/SW, and kids are well aware of that.

[Thetford]

A culture difference is very much at play here it seems, for example, in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, police officers are routinely unarmed, in fact, it caused a minor stir when it was revealed that a specially trained armed unit was doing regular patrols in Scotland. In the UK's case, it is known, if I recall, policing by consent, that the police should work with and for the public. And if you give the cops guns, what about the criminals? Up until now, most of the crimes these criminals have been guilty of are stuff like heists, where they do not interact with bank or museum staff, jailbreaks and escaping the law, no screaming hostages, no lives ruined

And outside the law enforcement context, I can only think of about three subthemes where the presence of firearms wouldn't be that controversial: Farming (protecting livestock from predators such as foxes), Forest (protecting the public from dangerous animals such as bears) and Arctic (protecting researchers from polar bears), and even then there could be issues such as Forest being seen to glorify hunting. I feel many seem to forget that Lego is a Danish company that makes a children's toy, what maybe be considered normal, acceptable or a fact of life in your society, may not be in others, and Lego tries to avoid casting judgement.

[Wodanis]

I voted no, City is a pretty clean theme. I don't mind the violence but I want imagination to be the rule of thumb. I think Hrw-Amen is right. Kids do realise the difference between fantasy and reality. lets give them more fantasy.

I think though that it is my choice to do that. I am pleased it is not thrust on children in a real to life theme. It is one thing to have conflict in fantasy and I think most people, even children realise that this fantasy and not real life. Whilst some police where I am do have guns, it is normally only in extreme circumstances and you do not see them every day on the street. As such this is the case in my LEGO CITY.

[Criga88]

I voted no, I believe the City theme should be about everyday city life. I'd be more than happy to see a drop in police/criminal and fire sets to have an increase in normal vehicles and scenes for a bit of variety.

[ER0L]

To be honest, I don't see a point in restarting this poll from 2010. You should keep in mind that City sets are designed for children - thus it's very nice that there's no weaponry in them, isn't it?

When we as AFOLs want to have weaponry in our city all we have to do is order some guns via BrickLink (there are quite a few, see http://www.bricklink...gList.asp?q=gun) and give it to the policemen and the criminals of our cities. There's absolutely no need to change City sets in such a way. And I'm pretty sure TLG won't change anything just because of this poll among a few AFOLs.

[mrfuture]

I voted No. I think the pure Lego Themes should be without guns, But in Licenced themes like Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribian it is OK. That is based on movies. Remove guns from it maks no sence to the movie story.

There is to much violence else where in the word.

Edited October 27, 2014 by mrfuture

[TheLegoDr]

I didn't realize this was that old of a topic...

Anyway, it is interesting how certain themes will have weapons and others won't.

LEGO Movie was in itself a licensed theme technically and the robots had guns and missiles.

I guess it is a very slippery slope considering Ninjago has swords (which are still a very real and dangerous weapon), while City doesn't have guns. Basically every theme outside of Friends and a lot of the Creator sets have weapons, whether they are modern day weapons or not is beside the point.

[YellowCorvette]

For me, I voted no as well.

The City theme is based on everyday life in Lego City and it will been too close to the reality if the police forces and the crooks have guns.

Edited September 2, 2015 by ArmstrongYong

[knight_40k]

I vote yes but only for police sets. Castle and Pirate themes have weapons, why shouldn't City? To me it's not a big deal though, I just bricklinked a ton of lone ranger revolvers for my police and crooks.

[MGCJerry]

I say "no". Let the end user whether they are kids or adults decide if weapons and violence should be a thing in their Legoverse unless it is specifically for a particular brand (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, etc).

[rollermonkey]

Zombie thread want brains!

[lanesteele240]

This can only end badly.