What an absolute idiot. That being said, I never let my kids have a bb gun! or a cap gun for that matter. I did not want them to ever use them or think of them as toys!. The carrot was a .22 of their own(with supervision)when I was comfortable with their safety and proficiency. 10yrs. old with my daughter. 8 with my son.
Regarding realistic guns though, I came down the stairs one day and saw what I thought was a Sig .226 on the floor in front of the TV - my heart jumped ! I wondered how that pistol was where the kids could play with it? But it was an airsoft gun - which is an airgun that shoots low-velocity plastic balls.
One of my friends was driving through an upscale neighborhood and passed a juvenile by the street aiming a bb gun at passing cars. My friend stopped and told him not to do that. The kid smugly asked why. My friend showed him a (formerly concealed) pistol and said that someone might mistake his gun for a real one. The kid turned pale and immediately agreed that he could be placing himself in a dangerous position.
Kids don't know until they are properly educated. neighborhood
That's the way we've handled it too. Our sons don't have toy guns (except Super-soakers!), but they both know that when Dad considers them responsible they'll have the opportunity to learn on the real thing. My husband took our 10 year old out for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It was a big step for him, and he was proud to bring home his target to show off. Our 8 year old is still too apt to be silly when discussing gun safety, so he'll be waiting a while.