Guns too realistic for Lego?

[exo attack]

Those of you who read The Daily Mial may have noticed on page 59 tehre is an article about lego guns being too realistic. Waht do you think?

[Starwars4J]

It's a rectangle stuck on a cylinder, with another cylinder popping out. I don't think it's "too realistic', in fact I wish it were moreso. At least the SW blasters have SOME detail in them...

As for being "too realistic for Lego", which is what your topic implied but contradicted by the body, I wouldn't think so. People have used cones as guns since they were introduced. It's not as if suddenly violence comes into lego now with guns, it just looks nicer ;-) And with all the things kids see on TV, and the videogames out there, Lego guns are not going to have an impact.

[exo attack]

Yes, I was particulary meaning new rifles for stormtroopers and tommy guns for batman. I don't think so, and if they think these are bad, they should visit Brickarms...

[Shadows]

It must be an amazingly safe and peaceful world when all we have to worry about is how much a bit of ABS plastic looks like a gun.

When I was growing up, we had toy guns that made sound effects, shot caps or water or little yellow plastic pellets or ping pong balls or rubber darts, or we just picked up a stick and used it for one. In the days before me, kids ran around playing cowboy and indian or cops and robbers or army men or gangsters or whatever. We did the same thing for swords to play pirate or lightsabers etc. Sometimes, you'd swing that broom handle too hard and wallop someone. They didn't die, they learned to duck.

LEGO included swords, guns, rifles, axes, spears, and all kinds of things that were meant to represent weapons (the old space 'torches' which were clearly intended as laser pistols).

Then one day someone decided that it was toy guns that were the cause of violence in the world. I clearly remember it happening in the 80s. There were big piles of plastic guns collected and destroyed and everyone smiled and said, "we're making a safer world." Might as well have had a book burning while they were at it.

I don't recall gun violence in those days. Oh, don't kid yourself, criminals had and used guns. Stores were robbed, people got in fights and murders happened, it just wasn't as common as now. School shooting? Never heard of such a thing. Road rage? Huh?

So fewer toy guns were being made and people were told not to let their children play the kinds of things they always had. The LEGO position on the matter always confused me. Pirates, knights, space explorers, cowboys and indians, they can all have guns, swords, etc. Purely fantasy lines like Star Wars or Batman? No guns. Isn't that backwards? Now they've reversed on that and I'm thankful to have them, and I haven't noticed a sudden increase in LEGO crime to match.

Time passes. Things change. People look to blame their problems on other sources.

Violent kids are a result of bad parenting, not toy guns, it's just easier to blame someone else for the problem than to take responsibility.

[snefroe]

i think articles like these were to be expected. it's a normal reaction for some groups, or people who are living in our society. i also used to have these plastic revolvers and a cowboy rifle when i was a kid, i don't think that has had any effect on me.

what is far worse is the abundant violence in the media, than lego producing plastic guns. btw, there are lots and lots of toys with far more realistic weapons than Lego's...

[hewkii9]

I suppose we'd all chop off our index fingers. Pointing with them looks too much like a gun to be safe. And do they complain when action figures have realistic guns?

[Zaktan of the Shadows]

And they don't complain about Megablox?

-ZotS

[hewkii9]

The Daily Mail is British, right?

The members who have to deal with the knowledge that they live in the home country of Megablocks is Canada. So they probably just don't care.

[JoeMI6]

IS is right. There's too much blame trying to be swung about. We're a whole forum of lego fans, and I don't see any of us having sudden urges to shoot someone because of the construction toys we played with and still play with. Also, even if they are realistic, to a degree, doesn't it prepare children for the real world?

[MatthewUSA]

I definitly agree with IS on his comment about the parents. I was happy to see that the guns in the new SW sets looked like the movies. When I first saw them the only thought that came to my mind was "Why didn't TLC make the guns like these back in 1999 when they released the SW sets." As for all the others, they are no different than the toys we all grew up with. Maybe the only difference is our parents took the responsibility and actually educated us. Now we need to take responsibility and educate our children.

[JINZONINGEN73]

It must be an amazingly safe and peaceful world when all we have to worry about is how much a bit of ABS plastic looks like a gun.

When I was growing up, we had toy guns that made sound effects, shot caps or water or little yellow plastic pellets or ping pong balls or rubber darts, or we just picked up a stick and used it for one. In the days before me, kids ran around playing cowboy and indian or cops and robbers or army men or gangsters or whatever. We did the same thing for swords to play pirate or lightsabers etc. Sometimes, you'd swing that broom handle too hard and wallop someone. They didn't die, they learned to duck.

LEGO included swords, guns, rifles, axes, spears, and all kinds of things that were meant to represent weapons (the old space 'torches' which were clearly intended as laser pistols).

Then one day someone decided that it was toy guns that were the cause of violence in the world. I clearly remember it happening in the 80s. There were big piles of plastic guns collected and destroyed and everyone smiled and said, "we're making a safer world." Might as well have had a book burning while they were at it.

I don't recall gun violence in those days. Oh, don't kid yourself, criminals had and used guns. Stores were robbed, people got in fights and murders happened, it just wasn't as common as now. School shooting? Never heard of such a thing. Road rage? Huh?

So fewer toy guns were being made and people were told not to let their children play the kinds of things they always had. The LEGO position on the matter always confused me. Pirates, knights, space explorers, cowboys and indians, they can all have guns, swords, etc. Purely fantasy lines like Star Wars or Batman? No guns. Isn't that backwards? Now they've reversed on that and I'm thankful to have them, and I haven't noticed a sudden increase in LEGO crime to match.

Time passes. Things change. People look to blame their problems on other sources.

Violent kids are a result of bad parenting, not toy guns, it's just easier to blame someone else for the problem than to take responsibility.

Nicely said.

Hell, my dad was born in the 30's.

He brought guns into school for show and tell.

He bought .22 caliber teargas pens (that could also fire a .22 cal bullet) from a Johnson Smith catalog.

Noone died.

The world is an anal, cry-for-me pile of wussbags these days.

Sad stuff. And annoying.