Boys and Guns

I have 3 boys and I don't like violence.

I have always kept guns away from my boys, yet they have managed throughout their short lives to find guns and "killing games" in their fingers and with their imagination and with sticks.  I have tried to distract them with, when they were younger, playdough and craft, sandpits and active play, yet, there was always a way for the fighting and killing to make a way back in.  This was particularly evident when playing with other boys.

Still, at the ages of 12, 11 & 8, they still had no guns (if we didn't count the one that came with the Elastic Making Kit for shooting rubber bands that has been used many times for other purposes).

Today after much begging a pleading, my husband was coerced into taking them to Kmart to spend their saved up pocket money on Lego.  Much counting up had been done prior to going, and much waiting, and cleaning of the house had to be done first.

Needless to say I was incredibly surprised to find 3 boys walk in the door with an armoury of guns.  One shot gun, two pistols and a rifle. Nerf guns. Ri-ight....

Now, I know that they are "toys", but, I am wondering (only 3 hours later) as I watch the boys constantly loading and reloading them with such intensity, how good these toys are.    It does scare me to see boys behaving this way.  I cannot imagine a girl getting a toy like this and finding such enjoyment.  Being a mother of boys is a constant eye opener for me.  They really think completely differently to me.  I look at it and think of the child soldiers in Africa, yet they are just (I hope) having fun.  Maybe as a mother, I am thinking too much about this.  Baah....Let's hope they break soon.