MY brother was around 10 years old when he got his first ‘chharray wali’ gun — anything and everyone was a target. While playing cops and robbers with his friends or pretending to be Tom Cruise from Mission Impossible, my cousins and I would have to duck, hide and crawl in order to save ourselves from the armed boys.

“Those plastic BB guns, pellets (chharray) are not available in the market today,” said Wasif, who works at a toy store in Bahadurabad.

“We usually stock Nerf guns which come with foam bullets. We also have some Chinese models, along with second and third copies of these guns. Air guns, BB guns and anything which can hurt someone — we are not allowed to sell,” he added.

In a notification issued by the Sindh home department on June 9, toy guns in the city were banned for 60 days to avoid robberies in Ramazan and Eidul Fitr. The notification also explained that this was being done to avoid injuries and negative impact on children.

“Toy guns in the market these days are quite sophisticated and expensive. Nerf’s naval strike and zombie strike series can cost up to Rs30,000. We also have the Nerf Rebelle series for girls,” said the toy store employee.

At Ghausia Toy Store next door, an employee explained that they had not been stocking BB and air guns since last year. The owner of the store explained that even when they had them, they would sell the guns to 18-year-olds and above only.

“These days we have Nerf guns, foam bullets and plastic guns with water/gel pellets,” he explained.

At another toy store in Bahadurabad, shopkeeper Azeem explained that BB guns and plastic pellets were very popular before the ban. “Nerf guns, water guns, ones with crystal/water pellets were also popular, but these have also been banned,” he said. “These guns are also available in the international market and toy stores abroad. We don’t understand why they have banned them here.”

Toy World at Delawala, Clifton, did have a few BB guns hidden behind large train sets, but claimed that they did not sell them to children.

Shahid, an employee at the store, said they did have a variety of Nerf and water guns at the store along with building blocks, Lego sets and action figures for boys.

According to Dr Uzma Ali, director of the clinical psychology institute at Karachi University, guns are normally related to aggression and if they are in the hands of children, they can act on those emotions and feelings. “If children do not have clear concepts about guns and other things, they can have a negative impact on them,” she said.

“If you are giving your children toy guns, make sure they understand the consequences and use of the toy or object, sit with them and have a story-telling session where you show something positive,” she added.

Dr Ali claimed that excessive use of toy guns was also not good as it can lead to severe aggression. She suggested that parents avoid giving toy guns to children under the age of eight — as that is the time their personalities are being formed.

Hina, a young mother of two, said that her son did play with toy guns, but playtime at home was monitored.

“He is not allowed to shoot at anyone. Since I have a baby girl at home, I have to be careful. I prefer he plays outside or uses wall target. If he’s playing with his water gun, he likes to do things like water the plants for his grandmother,” she said.

With all sorts of toy guns still available in the market, Sindh Home Secretary Qazi Shahid said his department had issued a notification and now it was up to the authorities to implement it.

Through the notification, he explained, all sort of guns — plastic BB guns, water guns, Nerf guns and others have been banned and should be confiscated.

Mr Shahid said the government had decided to take this step as a safety measure. “Technology has become very advanced these days. We cannot afford to be careless,” he said. “What if militants decide to make weapons based on these toys? We cannot take the risk given the country’s security situation.”

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2017