De Peiza: Gateway to the real thing

The congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados is calling for a nationwide ban on the importation and sale of toy guns.

General secretary Dennis de Peiza said toy guns were a gateway to the real thing, as he added “practice makes perfect”.

“This is something I feel very, very strongly about. If you go around to events like fairs, I’ve seen stations set up [with] these [realistic] looking rifles and the kids are shooting and ducking. Now, practice makes perfect and if you give me a toy gun like that and I begin to have a sense that this is something good and I get my hand on the real one . . . ,” he said.

De Peiza was speaking recently during the association’s monthly media conference at the Barbados Union of Teachers, Merry Hill, Welches Road, St Michael. He said it did not matter if the toy shot bubbles, they were all to be banned.

“You’re seeing this constant behaviour. If that’s what we want to promote in Barbados, then we’re going the wrong road. But my real contention about these toy guns is this – we’ve heard about guns coming to the country in parts and we have some of these [toy] guns that look too real. Now who can tell me that [these toys can’t be incorporated into a real gun?] So, my position is there is a chance of them being transformed into something real.

“But the problem that we have to face directly –  are we going to encourage our children to promote an appetite for the gun? Because once you get the feeling that this is a nice feeling, you’re going to go after it. You don’t know when the mock gun is mock, or if the real one is real because somebody putting a mock gun to your throat can still rob you. It may be mock but you never know when it’s the real one. So, let us act now,” he said.

The general secretary said the only ones who should be armed with guns were those licensed or authorised to carry them. He said the sale of toy guns must not be “like toffees on the street”.

“Any right-thinking government or any right-thinking set of people in this country who are very concerned about where we are and want to take action at the base, the base of the problem is, let’s stop the culture of guns in any form in this country where we remove from the hands of our young people an appetite for getting the real thing. Let’s stop it now,” he said.

President Ryan Phillips also felt strongly about the matter, stating that unless there was evidence toy guns were beneficial to society, they needed to go.

“We have never seen any statistics, except within the army, that speak of bettering skills in handling guns. So definitely, I would like to see if there are any statistics that tell me that it betters any skills, whether it be conflict resolution, life skills, or any kind of skills.

“I know that persons would say ‘I played with a toy gun when I was younger and look at me, I’m still an outstanding citizen’ but we have to admit that a lot has changed within Barbados,” he said.

Phillips said toy guns might seem harmless but could lead to the “normalisation and glorification of gun culture” where exposure to those toys at a young age fosters attitudes which might later manifest in real-world support for gun-related activities.

“By removing toy guns from the market, we can help discourage the development of a culture that glamorises violence and instead focus on nurturing positive values, creativity and non-violent conflict resolution skills in our children. This proactive step is essential to safeguarding the minds of our future generations and fostering a peaceful society.

“As a congress, who represents the majority of workers within Barbados, this is a concern for us and our membership because it concerns their families. We either do it now or we pay the price later and we cannot afford that as a small nation, especially where tourism is our business,” he said.

The MIDWEEK NATION reached out to Attorney General Dale Marshall, Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce and Police Public Affairs and Communications Officer Inspector Rodney Inniss for a comment on this issue, but there were no responses up to press time.

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