[mylife]

How did we make it through the 60s without the cops shooting kids dead in the streets?

[mylife]

[sanjoaquinvalley]

When I was a kid growing up in Texas I had every kind of toy gun imaginable. I watched reruns of all the 50’s and 60’s westerns and cop shows and wanted toys that looked like what they had. A snub nose that reminded me of Mannix, a gold derringer like the one Palidin hid in his belt buckle, a toy colt 45, a muzzle loading rifle like Daniel Boone, etc. Then there was the BB gun that was a replica of a Winchester (got my finger caught in that one) and later on a more powerful BB gun and pellet gun. Then my father took a couple of antique pistols from the 1800’s and took the firing pin out and made me a holster. I played with those real toys openly and on the street. Even took them to school for show and tell. No one at the school thought anything about it. Local department stores had BB gun turkey shoots for the kids in the stores.No adult every bugged me for walking around on the street. I also had a pocket knife collection and a Bowie knife my father made for me. I was a happy little girl!!! Now they’d arrest all of us. But my parents always had real guns and taughht me to use them safely. They also taught me never to point a toy gun at an adult, especially at a police officer. And they very bluntly explained what could happen if I did. Does anyone these days tell their kids not to point the guns at cops? Parents used to not shy away from teaching about unintended consequences.

[Magic Fingers]

“How did we make it through the 60s without the cops shooting kids dead in the streets?”

In the 60’s the “kids” (thugs, gangbangers, etc.) weren’t regularly pulling real guns on the cops.

[dljordan]

“How did we make it through the 60s without the cops shooting kids dead in the streets?”

The police have changed.

[Zack Attack]

How did we make it through the 60s without the cops shooting kids dead in the streets?

Heck, we sometimes used real guns playings army in our neighborhood. No ammo of course. I had several foreign rifles and a couple old handguns dad brought back from WWII in addition to a couple sets of German sword/sabre sets we had sword fights with.

Even took them to school on occasions for show & tell.

Yeah, I guess I do look back and wonder at times how I made through childhood alive. :)