How Do You Feel About Guns?

I mean toy guns.

I live in a place where any kind of weapon in the school, even a toy weapon, can get you kicked out but deer heads are proudly displayed by everyone from real estate agents to bankers. Don’t get me started on some of the restaurants around here.

This same subtle conflict runs through me personally. On the one hand I spent years hanging out with the peace, love, pass the granola folks. On the other my grandfather was a gun smith and avid hunter.

So when I wander through my own living room to find a cherished cartoon character holding a machine gun… I’m not sure how to react.

Do you think Tommy holding a gun really means anything? Should he be banned from my home as well as everywhere but the National Forests during hunting season? Should I quietly slip the gun under the tire of my car where it can no longer make so much noise when my son gets a hold of it? For what it’s worth, I’m fairly sure it was Mr. Al who put the gun in Tommy’s hands, but I wasn’t around when it happened, so I can’t be sure.