Toy Guns at Local Store?

November 8, 2022, 9:00 am 13.3k Views 54 Comments

By an edhat reader

Just thought I’d share that these are available and marketed right up front by the candy and chips and miners ace hardware in Goleta. Kinda unsettling.

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54 Comments

  7. Sacjon, we older folks have memories of an innocent childhood. I had a pellet gun at age 12 which I enjoyed and a “Tommy” BB gun. We made wooden pistols to shot rubber bands which we cut from old inner tubes. No, I did not become a serial murderer. But since that time a lot of youngster have become addicted to much more dangerous weaponry and this country is in the throes of a murderous era which is correctly attributable to the availability of firearms and the glorification of them. I think this sort of display is way out of date…sort of like selling material mocking Blacks (which was common back then as well).

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    • It is not toy guns nor video games that contribute to the this “murderous era”. Not that there is more unsupervised children with absentee parents these days (either by choice or work obligations), previously when left unsupervised they were limited to what was accessible within a bike ride from the home. Unsupervised internet access, particularly at a young age, is vastly more dangerous and opens them up to literally the entire world of nefarious activities and bad social examples – something that simply wasn’t available when we were growing up.

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    • “ort of like selling material mocking Blacks” – Ehhhhhhh, yikes and ouch, RHS. I’m sorry, but wooden rubber band guns in a hardware store is hardly the same. Yeah, it’s an outdated toy, but in no way comparably damaging as racist children’s books. It’s 2022, kids today have access to far more “gun-like” toys via video games, airsoft, gel-blaster guns, etc.
      Come on folks, they’re rubber band shooters made to look like outdated and inaccessible “Tommy guns,” basically like the toy muskets they sold at Disneyland when we were kids. Heck, these are so unrecognizable to today’s kids, they might think they’re Star Wars blasters or something science fiction-y.
      Are we going to ban the sales of all toy weapons? Have any links been made between kids who play with rubber band “guns” and then go on to commit crimes with real guns out of nostalgia for their rubber band wooden Tommy guns? Please give kids more credit than that.

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  10. We actually bought TWO of these “units” yesterday…we kept one and gave the other as a gift to our adult nephew. For those who are disgusted by the presence of rubber band guns, go to Amazon or perform a simple Gooooooogle search rubber band gun. Hundreds/thousands of hits. One of my favorite results that popped up was the “3D Wooden Puzzle Stem Toy Gun Gatling Rubber Band Machine Gun DIY Kits for Teens and Adults Maximum Loaded Bombs 108” for $31.99 (that includes 20% off the regular price).
    If you want to complain about weapons at Ace Hardware, let’s talk about: hammers, axes, screwdrivers, chisels, box cutters, nail guns, and cordless drills/oscillating tool/circular saw/reciprocating saw. Let’s get real peeps….rubber band guns do not make the list of “dangerous” weapons (unless you are a spider or fly).

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    • @CHRISR – happy to back up my claim but as Sac mentioned, I did not say locally. I said elsewhere, meaning nationally because these types of things only happen on a consistent basis in the United States thanks to our “right to bear arms.”
      1. Tamir Rice: shot by police for having a toy gun
      2. Stephon Clark: in his grandma’s backyard with a cellphone that police thought was a gun
      3. Andrew Satavu: shot and killed by police while delivering food for door dash
      4. Jayland Walker: shot and killed by police while delivering food
      5. Trayvon Martin – killed by a pseudo cop who thought he had a gun, it was a pack of skittles.
      And then there are tons more of instances of people shot and killed by police for having nothing on them at all but police thought they “were armed.”
      So I’d like to comment on YOUR statement as uninformed and ignorant.

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    • Terrible examples… Only one of your examples actually had a toy gun and only one was a little kid! Tamir did not have a big wooden Tommy gun, he had a black handgun that 100% looks real! If you’re going to make examples, try making them relevant to the conversation. You know, wooden toy rubberband guns will get you shot by the cops, and here are examples of that… I know, you couldn’t find any so you just went for the easy police are bad BS.

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  14. I like that they don’t look like real guns. It’s a good opportunity for parents to teach their kids never to shoot at anyone’s eyes. I loved cap guns and water pistols as a kid. Never liked rubberband shooting because those can sting. I wouldn’t buy these for my kid, but eh, they don’t bother me.

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    • Sadly, I don’t think that it is. My first reaction was that the article was satirical, my second thought was that it was trolling for pure entertainment. But upon rereading and reflection either this article is intended to be taken seriously or the writer is a shill for Ace Hardware.
      As a point of reference, most Ace Hardware stores I have been in around the USA not only carry rubber band guns as seasonal novelty gifts but the even deadlierpea shooter. They also tend to Cary BB guns year round and even high power pellet guns suitable for small game (rabbits and squirrels).
      In most parts of the country, the cops know the difference between a Tommy gun and a plywood rubber band gun even if the plywood is stained to look like real walnut.

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  19. Well…We could take the rubber band guns away from the kids and make them stay home and play video games where they electronically shoot everything that moves.
    I’m also worried that rubber bands will now be declared hazardous items and I won’t be able to buy them without a special permit.

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  21. I’m actually kind of surprised these are still legal in California. Certain types of food were just outlawed, along with all the best selling cars (a couple years out), some popular tobacco products, and new natural gas meters in some areas. It will be exciting to see what other products and services will be taken off the market in the years ahead. If in doubt, remember that if something would be fun or convenient, it’s probably illegal in california.

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    • Well sac, california has laws requiring a minimum standard for working conditions is maintained for the hens producing our eggs, otherwise the eggs cannot be sold in ca. California has no comparable law specifying minimum standards for the working conditions of humans making any product that is sold in our state. Therefore, I conclude ca cares more about the well being of the hens that lay its eggs (outside of ca) than the slaves and children who manufacture its electronics, textiles, etc. (also outside of ca). I find it fascinating, a lot of people actually have more sympathy for animals then they do for their fellow humans.

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    • CHIP – you didn’t bother to read the actual article or the link to the Act itself? Not surprising.
      Your link is from 2014, 2 years BEFORE they enacted this ban so it is, by definition, moot.
      Again though, were there some other, maybe local or national sources of “slave labor” you’re referring to?

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    • CHIP – it bans the sale of meat from pregnant pigs unless their living quarters are big enough for them to be able to TURN AROUND. So sorry you can’t eat tortured pregnant pig meat….
      See? You don’t give a shinola about animals or the environment unless we’re talking about wind or solar. Sheesh!

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    • Sac, I prefer buying free range eggs myself, but I’m not willing to outlaw more common and lower cost eggs. In addition, I think it is very ironic that california cares more about how pigs and chickens are treated than it cares about how men, women, and children are treated during the production of the products we buy. Consumer products manufactured by slaves, all good, put em on the shelf and sell em. Eggs laid by a hen whose cage wasn’t big enough, that’s just inhumane. Finally, if the Supreme Court upholds prop 12other states will implement similar regulations that could have a big impact on how things are done in California. For example, in an effort to improve working conditions and wages for agricultural workers, Texas may outlaw all agricultural products that are produced at farms that fail to verify that all their employees are us citizens. Turnabout is fair play, but I’m pretty sure california would hate to have to pay its AG workers more in order to sell produce to texas.

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    • CHIP – how about that pregnant bacon you were so concerned about?
      “california cares more about how pigs and chickens are treated than it cares about how men, women, and children are treated during the production of the products we buy. Consumer products manufactured by slaves” – Lol, what? Care to elaborate on the “slave labor” in California?

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  22. Thank you so much. I have been looking for some toy guns for Xmas for my nieces and nephews. Although these are old style tommy guns they at least allow us to start the kids on the road to respect and gun ownership. As the Wokies have seemed to make this more and more difficult locally I have had to use Amazon. Again thank you for the lead although there is no name attached this is the type of community service that EdHat was set up to do.

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