Lynne Hiken was surprised to walk through Toys "R" Us yesterday and see hunting rifles, assault Uzis and pistols. What happened to the retailer's pledge to stop selling guns that looked like the real thing?
"Look at this," says the Owings Mills mother of two, pointing to a set of "six shooters" in silver and ivory. "I wouldn't know whether these were dangerous or not."
Although many toy stores -- including major retailers such as Toys "R" Us and Kay-Bee Toys -- announced last month that they would stop stocking realistic toy guns, some models were still around yesterday as the holiday shopping season began.
James Brown, assistant director of Toys "R" Us in Owings Mills, explains that the guns weren't removed from shelves. They simply will not be re-ordered, he says.
The decision to do away with these toys occurred after separate incidents in which police shot two New York youths who were carrying toy guns. One 13-year-old boy, holding a toy firearm in a dark stairwell, was killed.
Last year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders urged parents to avoid buying these toys for the holidays because the make-believe violence too often becomes "a fatal reality."
This summer, Mrs. Hiken and her husband Sandy decided to remove most of the toy guns from their home after sons Brandon, 7, and Ryan, 5, regularly started fighting and misbehaving whenever they played with them.
"There are enough guns in the world," says the 36-year-old office manager, who had instead selected Junior Scrabble and Power Rangers as Hanukkah presents for her sons. "And they'll have plenty of time to learn that."
Some youngsters say having fewer choices in the toy aisles doesn't bother them.
Olen Oliver, 13, didn't mind not being able to find many guns at Kay-Bee Toys in Towson Town Center yesterday.
"That's a good thing," says Olen, who lives in Northeast Baltimore. "Most kids run around acting like they're going to kill somebody if they have a gun that looks real. I've seen 'em."
In October, Kay-Bee removed and destroyed 290,000 guns from its 1,100 stores across the country.
At the Towson store, it's now difficult to find a gun at all, unless you count the futuristic Cyber Blaster on the clearance shelf, reduced by roughly 60 percent.
"Removing these toys was a financial commitment," says Michelle Healy, spokeswoman for Kay-Bee, the Massachusetts-based chain. "But toy guns only represent a small percentage of the merchandise mix. They weren't a big seller anyway."
To be sure, there are still exotic-looking weapons around -- from the Ultimator (a foam missile launcher in neon purple) to the Eliminator (an imposing gizmo that can be transformed from a power dagger into bayonet machine gun).
For some gift givers, the rising concern about these toys has gotten their seasonal shopping off to a difficult start.
Larry Kordon stood in aisle six of a Toys "R" Us yesterday debating whether to buy his nephew a bright purple gun with glow-in-the-dark ammunition.
"I'm really nervous about this," says the 30-year-old uncle from Pikesville, gingerly placing the $14.99 toy in his cart. "It's what he wants, but I don't know if his parents will ever let him have it."