OFF way OFF: unhappy kids/guns story

[Robert C. Mayo]

In a message dated 7/3/00 11:22:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
lwitt1 at USWEST.NET writes:

<< uh, kids have played with toy guns since they were invented, the kid
 probably didn't understand the difference. >>

no kidding...this is my point.
this kid wanted to play with that gun, real or not, so badly, he was trying
to take it from a stranger saying 'no'. they don't know the difference
between real guns and toy guns, so to them, there is no difference. this is
why they pick up real unsupervised guns that don't have a cop attatched and
accidentally (?toy/real?) shoot (?pretend to shoot?) themselves or somebody
else. we hear about that every so often, too often, yes? i guess what i saw
was as close to that scenario as i''ll ever get, not close at all but
freakin' close enough. it really creeped me out. i'll never cross paths with
li'l dude ever again and yet i find myself thinking about his future, and in
that, thinking about every kid's future re:guns and violence.
because they don't know the difference.
rmayo
who used to play 'starsky and hutch' with sticks for guns and lived to tell
...but still worries; its not 1976 anymore