A Preschooler’s Constitutional Right to Bear Arms

Yesterday, when I was checking my son into his preschool class, I was informed by his teacher that my son was put into “time out” 4 times because he was “shooting” a pretend “finger gun” and he and the other children were playing a “good guy/bad guy” chase game. The teacher was obviously disgruntled by my son’s behavior for she felt the need to ostracize him and lecture me about “guns”. She also stated that one of the other mother’s complained about their child returning home from school and “shooting” a pretend “finger gun” shouting “bang, bang” as they ran about the house; all of course, attributed to my son’s behavior.

My response to the teacher was that we do not keep weapons in the home, nor does my son have any toy guns. I felt that her tone was accusatory, so I adamantly defended my claim to assure her that this “outrage” was not promoted within the confines of MY HOME!!! As I left the classroom, I immediately began trying to “rationalize” this “irrational” behavior. How could my sweet 3 year old boy take on this persona—that of an imaginary arms wielding bandit?!! Should I consult with legal counsel, for my son has presumably been marked as the next member of the “trench coat mafia”? The answers to these questions ate at me for the remainder of the day.

Where to begin? First of all, I tried to think of ways my son may have been exposed to GUNS. Well, there’s the old “blame it on the media” defense followed by the “pawn it off on society” plea. But what if the Media was Disney and society was some of the best men and women I have known, namely police officers and military personnel. Then what? Am I to condemn “Woody, the cowboy” a beloved character from the Movie Toy Story, or am I to demean the careers of police officers in the eyes of my little boy. How do I justify punishing my preschooler for imitating the actions of the “good guys”?

Good guys protect the innocent and in most movies, they carry weapons to do so. Dating back to the time of my grandfather, little boys have been fixated with “cowboy”, “soldier” and “cops and robbers” themed games. (My grandfather still enjoys a good cowboy film and please DO NOT try to change the channel if John Wayne is on!) I do not think that generations of little boys have taken up this pastime with some immoral agenda, nor do I believe that my grandfather’s youthful “cowboy days” rendered him a criminal.

When I returned home later that day, I began investigating by rummaging through my son’s toys, games, and movies. The climax of my witch hunt brought me upon my son’s beloved shelf of DVDs. They appeared so innocent on the shelves, but there they were, the promoters of the perverse behaviors exhibited by my son and his cronies! The titles read like an NRA’s “who’s who”—Toy Story, Star Wars, Madagascar, Open Season, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan, and that no good rat—Ratatouille. All of them, ALL…agents of the Devil and inciting my son to do Diablo’s bidding!

As my eyes scanned past the shelf, I noticed the framed photographs next to the movies. It became apparent that Disney World and Universal Studios were in on this conspiracy. The rides that we had enjoyed on vacation this summer have contributed to the delinquency of my beloved minor! The Buzz Lightyear and Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney, and the E.T. and Jaws rides at Universal were the first to come to mind; all of which my young son enjoyed immensely, but unfortunately have firepower embedded in their motif!

With my thoughts stuck on the recent vacation, I could not help to reflect upon the actual “travel” involved and the security personnel and police officers my son “introduced” himself to at the airport; one particular officer that my son was taken with had a German shepherd and as you may have guessed, a gun. The young officer catered to my son’s star struck enthusiasm by explaining the police department’s role in airport and homeland security. The officer was friendly and sincere, qualities that registered in my son’s eyes as a “good guy”; now how do I back track and explain to my preschooler that this peace keeping “good guy” is really “bad” because he has a gun? When did we start defining the right to bear arms as a fiendish activity reserved solely for criminals? Are we sending mixed messages to our kids?

In the United States, Americans have the right to bear arms as protected by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, even the smallest and youngest of men will be guaranteed that right upon maturity. By placing my son in “time out” for emulating what he perceives to be “good guys” actions, are we devaluing the role of peace keeping public servants and teaching my boy to show contempt for his constitutional rights? Many good men have died protecting those rights...and they carried guns.

As a mother, I plan to educate my son on the issues concerning guns and the opportunities in which he may encounter them. I will teach my son that a gun does not make a man “bad” or cause him to do evil, but rather man himself is the catalyst. I will also have to encourage him and his colleagues to reserve their StarWars action scenes for a “galaxy, far, far, away” and not their preschool classroom.