Don’t Buy Toy Guns for Christmas
I wrote this article about 20 years ago, and I have repeated it again many times. I was the first writer in Buffalo to write about this important topic. Today many nonviolent groups are spreading this message. I am still encouraging parents and guardians to buy other gifts for our youth. This message is still relevant today. We continue to see gun violence in our community almost daily. The message of nonviolence needs to be emphasized as much as possible.
Some people might see toy guns as simply a part of fun and play for children. At one time it was. I remember my brother getting a cowboy outfit with toy guns and caps for Christmas. It was all so innocent during that time. Playing cowboys was part of growing up for many young people. Now it is a different story because the toy guns that are made today resemble real guns that are for sale today.
In the article that I wrote in 1994 I recalled the case of a 13-year old young man named Nicholas Haywood, Jr. Nicholas was playing with a toy rifle on the fourteenth stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project in September 1994. A police officer shot Nicholas and he later died. He said that he believed that Nicholas had a real gun in his hands. Today in recent times, we have heard of cases such as this, where children had a toy gun mistaken to be real. As a result, they were shot by the police. The death of Nicholas had a tremendous impact on the youth in the surrounding community.
A group of young people from Kid’s Press Magazine started a campaign called “books for guns.” Kid’s Press was a literary magazine edited and written by about 50 young people in Brooklyn where Nicholas lived. Many of them knew Nicholas and his family. They wanted to make a statement about the violence in their community. They went around their community armed with books and offered them to the youth in exchange for toy guns. One local toy store after hearing about the death of Nicholas, decided to get rid of all of the realistic guns. The owners had them taken off the shelves and melted down.
The final decision is up to the parents whether to buy toy guns. Real guns, violence in the streets, violent television and video games must be addressed also. Young people must be taught how to solve problems in peaceful ways. I like the idea of exchanging toy guns for books. It is better to stir the imagination of our children with good stories. My message will always be: DON’T BUY GUNS FOR CHRISTMAS. I think it is still a very good message!!