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OT: question for British families


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We are moving from California to London and I have a totally off topic question! My kids have some Nerf guns that they play with, but I know Europeans are not as open to guns as Americans are. I was wondering if it is normal/common for kids to play with toy guns such as these, or if it would be really offensive for us to bring them. I've included a link to the type of toy gun that we have. Thanks,

 

http://www.amazon.com/Nerf-32214-Vortex-Proton/dp/B004SKYULI

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We have a whole box of nerf guns and crossbows. They and their knock offs are sold widely here at often ridiculous prices. While realistic toy guns are frowned upon by many individuals on a personal level, they aren't an issue as a whole. You can find realistic toy guns in pound shops readily. 

 

And if you are moving to the UK, you should know that there are very few things Europeans agree on other than the others are wrong and should be shouldering more of whatever issue. ;) The Swiss have lots of guns, UK has guns but it illegal to have one that can be concealed and it's a lot of paperwork and faff to get other ones that few want to deal with anymore (UK traditionally had lots of guns, this shifted dramatically after the Dunblane school massacre. After that, the UK's been more open to gun being controlled as a privilege to be earned by few). 

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Nerf are fine, you'll see them all over the place. Maybe not as a toy you play with in the park or out in the street but definitely a normal kid toy at home. Water guns of that style are normal too.

 

I personally dislike realistic looking toy guns and most of my friends do too, that'd probably be more of an issue if you are thinking about kids sharing toys with other kids. 

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As a New Yorker, that surprises me. Here it's illegal to sell realistic toy guns, and it's illegal to modify a real gun to look like a toy. I just kinda assumed that was the case in most places!

The toy ones usually have a coloured bit on the end. Not sure if that's a legal requirement but they do have something identifying them as not real. 

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I thought so as well Tanaqui when I first saw them and I know some reenactment people and cosplayers who've gotten in trouble for painting even obvious bulky nerf guns when someone's called up panicked here. The vast majority have the orange tip, but not all. At closer look they usually have the same cap but it's coloured to match which seems pointless as the cap is hard to see at a distance. This is usually at cheap stall and poundland type places that I've spotted these - some are quite realistic - and I've seen kids at parks playing with them. Like lailasmum I really do not like them and pointed out the issues with them to my eldest a few times which is how I noticed it at first. Personally the ones with sound effects are the worst I think, cap or no cap, they can be really unsettling.  Nerfs and similar are quite popular and liked here so you should have little issues with those Calizzy :) 

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I believe realistic toy guns have to have a coloured cap to identify them.

 

Aussie chiming in, I think AUS and UK are pretty similar on this. Nerf guns are fine, most people have at least one lying around somewhere lol. Big colourful water guns are popular too. (they're a pretty traditional christmas gift in Australia lol, since christmas is in summer here)

 

Realistic guns are generally frowned upon though. They can be bought from the two-dollar-shops, but aren't often sold in big shops like target etc. They're not popular, and I know a number of parents who are fine with nerfs who wont allow realistic ones. 

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nerf guns are fine - mine used to love them. Water pistols are fine, too. The public and police, here, are generally hyper-vigilant about guns and weapons. Just leaving a realistic-looking toy on the back seat of a car could cause a major incident, so if it doesn't obviously look like a toy keep it in the house!

 

You'll find a lot of parents (particularly those with young kids) are sensitive about their kids playing with toy guns, so if you're doing playdates with other people's kids and plan to have toy guns/nerf guns available, ask beforehand if that's ok with the other parent. It makes for better parent relations! Once parents have been parenting for a few more years, they usually get over the toy gun ban, cos they realise their kids are gonna make guns out of everything anyway - at least that's was what happened to me. Then we got to designing near-lethal knex crossbows... :lol:  

 

 

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