THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOY WEAPONS AND CRIME

The Relationship Between Toy Weapons And Crime

The Relationship Between Toy Weapons And Crime

Chapter II

Toy weapons are toys that mimic real weapons, but are designed to be fun for children to play with and not dangerous. Some are essentially similar to the real thing, but less powerful. Weapons for cutting and stabbing have dull blades usually in plastic. Weapons formerly made out of metal and wood are now often made of a lighter material such as plastic. Toy guns either cannot really shoot projectiles or just soft ones such as cork shooting pop guns or "Nerf" darts with limited velocity.

However, cap pistols use caps with extremely small amounts of explosives for the sound effect. Toy hand grenades do not contain explosives except for a cap. BB guns are often called toy guns, but their shots can cause bodily harm.

Many newer toy weapons are brightly colored and oddly shaped to appeal to children and distinguish them from the real thing (see Dangers below). For example, a toy that shoots Nerf balls might have a rounded shape and a neon yellow color.

For big weapons, the toy version is usually on a smaller scale. It might be much smaller, such as a toy catapult that is 20 centimetres (8 in) tall. Or it might just be sized for children, such as a water pistol that is half the size of a similar firearm.

A prop weapon (such as a stage gun or a stage sword) has to look real, but like a toy weapon, it should not be dangerous. A woodworking business, the Parris Manufacturing Company was contracted by the United States Government to provide over 2 million accurate copies of the M1903 Springfield rifles, the MK 1 USN Dummy Training Rifle for the large World War II US armed forces. After the war they manufactured and sold their replicas to drill teams and to children as toy guns.

Children have always had small imitations of things from the adult world and toy weapons are no exception. From a hand-carved wooden replica to factory-produced pop guns and cap guns, toy weapons came in all sizes, prices and materials from wood to metal.

With the influence of Hollywood and comic strips, tie-ins could make an ordinary toy gun a major bestseller. In the 1930s Daisy Outdoor Products came out with a Buck Rogers Rocket Pistol (1933), Disintegrator Pistol (1934), and Liquid Helium Pistol (1935) that sold in record numbers.

In 1940 Daisy went from spacemen to cowboys with their Red Ryder BB Gun that still is in production today. Though the Red Ryder comic strip is not as popular as it was with its spin-offs on radio and the cinema, the Red Ryder BB Gun gained a new life from the film A Christmas Story based on Jean Shepherd's short stories. However, it was the Buck Jones BB gun, rather than the Red Ryder one that featured a compass and sundial in the stock. In the 1950s motion pictures and television heroes Roy Rogers, ...