From very young ages, my 4 kids had first hand visuals of the mortality and devastating trauma caused by guns on game animals. The cute bunny, deer, bear, etc. laying lifeless with a bloody hole in it. And it didn't get up to star in the next movie. Still, to the chagrin of my peers, I never let them point toy guns (or even their fingers) at a human and say "POW!" No squirt gun fights, playing 'Army', 'Cops and Robbers', 'Cowboys and Indians' or Grand Theft Auto type video games (These came out later and as "adults" they played them anyway...). And I screened (to the best of my ability) their intake of movies and TV. Perhaps I was viewed as a hard ass, but, I know first hand that it sucks to be shot. Yet, guns have always been an important tool in my life and I'm not one to throw out a hammer over a black thumbnail. I've kept them handy and I've kept them loaded. If you haven't taken the time to discipline your children before getting a gun, maybe you should get a baseball bat instead.