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LEGO Gun Book Causes Online Tizzy
Ammoland ^ | 23 May, 2012 | NRA-ILA

Posted on 05/25/2012 5:25:29 AM PDT by marktwain

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- Parents preoccupied with creating a conflict-free Utopia for their kids would seem to have little to fear from a Danish toy maker, an ingenious and enterprising British youth, and a small San Francisco publishing company.

Yet this trio causes much handwringing in the May 16th edition of “The Mommy Files,” ( http://tiny.cc/bfjrew ) an online parenting blog published by the San Francisco Chronicle.

The source of the anxiety is LEGO Heavy Weapons, a guide to building toy guns out of LEGOs. The author is Jack Streat, a 17-year-old resident of the United Kingdom, and the book is published by the San Francisco imprint No Starch.

For a culture of “inclusiveness” that’s nonetheless determined to exclude the Second Amendment and its advocates, the book is bad news indeed. LEGOs are everywhere, even in the homes of enlightened progressives who would never dream of letting a Nerf gun or cap pistol contaminate their children’s “cruelty-free” play spaces. The idea that the makings of gun-like objects might already exist under their own roofs must come as a shock … unless, of course, the parents have actually observed children at play. If a stick is not available to serve as a rifle, a boy will chew his grilled cheese into the shape of a pistol.

Those youthful impulses of adventure and self-determination run deep, as the book’s author vividly illustrates. Even modern Britain’s determined effort to demonize and eradicate civilian access to firearms could not suppress the creative impulses that turned a bin full of interlocking plastic bricks into a functional scale replica of a AKS-47U (the second of four models detailed in the book).

The Mommy Files does its best to provoke righteous indignation and gets some traction with a random British father, who in a rather un-English display of temper whines that “it’s just wrong, wrong, wrong.” Yet even the developmental psychologist the blog consults cannot muster much concern. “Play is play,” the doctor states, adding that research has not shown that playing with toy guns can lead to aggression. But, argues the blogger, these guns are realistic.

“They’re not realistic,” responds the doctor. “They don’t shoot. These guns are related to the impulse to create, not the impulse to kill.”

We agree, which is why at least one ILA staffer has pre-ordered a copy for his own eight-year-old LEGO fanatic. Jack Streat should be commended for the effort and intelligence evident in his creations.

The only thing “scary” about his book is how some are overreacting to it.

About:

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist; book; gun; lego
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To: MrB
“These guns are related to the impulse to create, not the impulse to kill.”
HIDDEN PREMISE ALERT!!!
Notice that the assumption is that those who like guns have “an impulse to kill”.
Actually, the “impulse” is that of DEFENSE OF SELF AND OTHERS. This could be the two-fold root of the left’s general hatred of firearms.

Actually, I think you're jumping a little too much to the conclusion; he's saying “These guns are not 'the impulse to kill'” just as you are saying that this is not related to an impulse to kill.

IOW, he's addressing the same premise as you are. Though he's looking at it from the child's perspective wherein the goal is play/fun (creation via imagination); let's be honest, the LEGO-guns have nothing to do with an impulse to defend self and others either. (I.E. The child "protector" won't use the LEGO-gun to keep someone from being beat up, he'll use a stick, fists, a rock or something that he can use as a REAL [not imaginary] weapon.)

21 posted on 05/25/2012 8:12:13 AM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: KosmicKitty
But I bet the book doesn’t have the pig gun!!

Nope, just scary looking black plastic guns


22 posted on 05/25/2012 8:33:28 AM PDT by Oztrich Boy
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To: marktwain
Awesome, will have to get this kid's book too, another place to get your Lego gun fix is brickgun.com,, I bought one of their kits and the plans for the MP5, they don't sell the actual kit, have got most of the parts needed for the MP5 but still need a few more to finish it.
23 posted on 05/25/2012 9:10:47 AM PDT by battousai (Conservatives are racist? YES, I hate stupid white liberals.)
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To: paterfamilias

“Our toddler son used to fashion handguns by creative nibbling of toasted white bread.”

My nephew used to bite the corner off his graham crackers to make them into handguns. Funny.


24 posted on 05/25/2012 4:06:08 PM PDT by Owl558 ("Those who remember George Satayana are doomed to repeat him")
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To: rfreedom4u

Yes, they will think it’s cool. Have fun, Gramps.


25 posted on 05/25/2012 5:19:09 PM PDT by Bigg Red (Pray for our republic.)
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