Posted on 12/24/2018 8:52:34 PM PST by LibWhacker
During the Christmas of 1914, some French, British, and German soldiers along World War I’s Western Front informally ceased hostilities in order to celebrate the holiday. The truce offered the combatants a brief moment to celebrate their shared humanity amidst the otherwise ghastly conflict.
No such luck for Americans weary of the United States’ all-consuming culture war. For anti-gun zealots, the Christmas season offers fresh opportunities to mold the next generation of obedient statists.
On December 13, the Village of Hempstead, N.Y. hosted the Long Island Toy Gun Exchange Program, modelled after so-called gun “buybacks” that target real firearms. According to a report from local newspaper Newsday, each child received one politically correct toy in exchange “for whatever water pistols, Nerf guns and other toy guns they turn[ed] in.”
The toys for the turn-in were supplied by local businessman Sean Acosta, who made clear that the program is intended to influence impressionable children against firearm ownership at a young age, with the goal of shifting American public opinion against guns. As reported in the Newsday article,
“It has to start at a young age,” Acosta says of changing gun culture. “If we can get them to say, ‘It’s not cool to carry these toy guns,’ then maybe when they get older, they won’t ever carry a real gun.”
The Newsday report does not indicate that Acosta made any distinction between lawful gun ownership and the criminal misuse of firearms.
This was not the first year Hempstead has hosted this yuletide propaganda effort. In 2015 and 2016, a series of toy gun grabs were organized by Manhattan socialite Jean Shafiroff. At the 2016 iteration, Shafiroff told Newsday her motivation behind the event, stating, “I wanted children to know toy guns are not good toys… By exchanging them for a much better gift, it shows a toy gun is not worth having.”
Toy gun turn-ins have long been a staple of anti-gun activists’ indoctrination efforts, with various types of payouts and foolish spectacle.
In 2010, Providence, R.I. held a Christmastime turn-in where tots were encouraged by the state’s attorney general to toss their toys into a plastic shredder dubbed the Bash-O-Matic, which the Boston Globe described as “a large black, foam creature with churning metal teeth and the shape of a cockroach spliced with a frog.” A 2011 toy turn-in in Buffalo, N.Y. bribed the local children with pizza. When asked about their plans for the pretend ordnance, the Buffalo organizers said they would place the toys in a coffin and bury them as a “symbolic” act.
A 1997 toy gun “buyback” in Rockville, Md. gave children who placed their violent toys in a “peace drum” a new “toy of peace” and asked them to help construct a “Peace Pole.” Another 1997 turn-in at Northern Light School in Oakland, Calif. resulted in a bizarre statue of the ruined toys and the praise of real firearms confiscation advocate Hillary Clinton.
As NRA-ILA has repeatedly pointed out, there is nothing unhealthy about playing with toy guns. In an interview with WebMd.com clinical psychologist and best-selling author Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D. stated, “Everyone has an informal causation theory that playing with guns leads to the use of guns in adulthood,” but that, “There's no scientific evidence suggesting that playing war games in childhood leads to real-life aggression.” The Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development notes, “If playful aggression is supported, it is highly beneficial to child development,” and that, “The act of pretending to be aggressive is not equivalent to being aggressive.”
As Acosta pointed out, toy gun turn-ins aren’t about the toys. These events are about conditioning children against all firearm ownership and use. Covering a 1999 toy turn-in in Buffalo, N.Y., a Buffalo News article titled, “Toy gun buyback sends disarming message to young,” reported this fact, noting, “The idea behind the buyback, community leaders said, is to send a message: guns are bad – all guns are bad.”
It’s unfortunate that the deep hatred some have towards America’s legitimate gun culture has compelled them to exploit the Christmas season and impressionable youngsters to score cheap political points. A November 2016 Gallup poll found that 77 percent of U.S. adults thought that “Americans are greatly divided when it comes to the most important values.” Rather than replace a few perfectly good toys, these anti-gun extremists could help provide the entire country what it wants for Christmas, a short respite from the ceaseless political strife, if only they could manage to curb their intolerance for a few brief moments this year.
On December 13, the Village of Hempstead, N.Y. hosted the Long Island Toy Gun Exchange Program, modelled after so-called gun “buybacks” that target real firearms. According to a report from local newspaper Newsday, each child received one politically correct toy in exchange “for whatever water pistols, Nerf guns and other toy guns they turn[ed] in.”
Screw that, turn in the toy gun at the real buyback program and get real money for it.
Gun buy back programs are a great way for tax payers to get some of their money back and get rid of scrap or junk items that look like guns.
Way back when, I would have never turned in my cap gun for a pizza.
I’ll tell you, me and my friends would be in big trouble today.
We played with toy guns a lot. And we also, liberals will be aghast, we played World War II, and had teams of “Japs” and “Gerries”
None of us grew up to be serial killers or mass shooters or even wife beaters. None of that happened.
If they really want to have some imoact, go into the inner city, and do their toy guns buyback there. That’s where the majority of gun violence is.
Our 3 yr old grandson asked for a nerf gun. He is getting two of them. His other liberal Grandma is going to have a heart attack!
Turn in a forked stick and make some money.
Its abundantly clear that playing with guns as kids, does not turn a person into a gun wielding murderer.
Damaged families, lack of ethics in the home, lack of genuine faith/religion in the home with a consistent moral foundation, the craptacular public indoctrination system that doesnt care about kids at all,
these things are far more to blame for being factors that contribute to violent male and female thuggery in society.
Our 3 yr old grandson asked for a nerf gun. He is getting two of them. His other liberal Grandma is going to have a heart attack!
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Before she died, my wife’s liberal, gun grabber, tree hugger aunt was always very generous at Christmas. She gave my son $500.00 one Christmas. I asked what he was going to do with the money. “This and what I’ve saved will get me a 9mm” he said. The old lib never found out and he did the same thing the next Christmas...an AR-15.
That old woman would have died if she’d found out.
As long as kids have a forefinger and thumb they’ll play shooting games.
I’m doing my bit to evangelize the next generation about guns, with my children and now grandchildren. They learn first about safety and what real guns can do. Then I let them shoot a real gun, a 22 rifle, with me helping to hold (and control) the rifle, but they pull the trigger. They think it’s pretty cool and I’m sure they tell all their friends at kindergarten class about it the next day. For a kid that age, it’s makes a bigger impression than any toy buy back program.
They don’t particularly care about the violent, thuggery types. It does scare the shit out of many, and makes everybody OK (sort of) with an over-reaching police state. So there’s that.
It is the normal, peaceable people, the great mass of citizenry who need to be disarmed, in their view.
My husband bought our son a gun for Christmas two years ago. The gift giving had to be discreet because his MIL was in attendance and would have freaked. Our son asked for a gun to protect his family. Same grandma who is going to witness her ( and ours) 3 yr old grandson opening his very first nerf guns in a few short hours!
Love your story!
Held over the shoulder, it was a bazooka.
Held against the shoulder, it was a rifle.
Held against your side, it was a submachine gun or a BAR (depending on whether you were SGT Saunders or CPL Kirby).
Braced against the ground, handle end up, it was a mortar.
Balanced on your knees, it was a 50-cal machinegun.
No toy out there gave you the flexibility of a baseball bat when waging war in the back yard ...
Meanwhile muzzy kids will be sticking up on you guns.
Bad spell autocorrect. Meant meanwhile muzzy kids will be stocking up with toy guns.
All this nonsense got started with the murder of Bobby Kennedy back in 1968. Among all the other nonsense taking place, as the de-violence of comic books, pulp fiction covers, dumbing down adult (but safe for kids) TV shows to kiddie shows, butchering movies of all “violence” for showing on TV, and how the movie industry used “self policing” and a joke of a ratings system, to destroy the Hays Code, thus adding more sex and violence to theater movies.
Toy guns disappeared from stores, and kids were told to turn in their toy guns as the feminization and emasculation of America’s boys began.
One kid turned in a toy gun, got bragged on by the police and press for turning in his toy, then he said...”It wsn’t mine.” One reporter then said the kid would probably grow up to be a politician.
. Same grandma who is going to witness her ( and ours) 3 yr old grandson opening his very first nerf guns in a few short hours!
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Oh boy, that’s going to be something to see. If you remember, please let me know how it went.
Merry Christmas!
Yup.
In reality they want citizens disarmed so they cannot stop lobtard socialist policies from taking more and more away from them, under the color of law.
Socialism is just ‘peaceful robbery by government’.
What is it with aholes who have the last name Acosta?
Long Island has hundreds of MS-13 gang members.
This Sean Acosta dirtbag better hope he never runs into some of these psychos in a dark alley.
Without a firearm he would be screwed.
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