Campaign to ban toy guns makes inroads
Last year a number of organisations, including Youth for the Future, launched a campaign against the sale of toy guns in Belize. The feeling was that the providing of such toys to children helped perpetuate a growing culture of violence. The realistic looking imitations also gave robbers one more way to ply their trade on the cheap. Well now, with Christmas only a month away, it’s crunch time. Have merchants gotten the sense? News Five’s Marion Ali went out hunting.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Youth for the Future Programme Manager Kevin Cadle says because the sale of toy guns was so prevalent in the past the plastic versions were used in many of the hold-ups committed against the same merchants who sell them.
Kevin Cadle, Programme Manager, Y.F.F.
“We want merchants to take heed basically to the fact that the same toys they are selling to people are the same toy guns that young people are coming back to basically rob them with. So we are asking them to take an innate look at what they are basically selling and what they are doing with toys guns as it relates to selling those type of thins within the store especially for Christmas.”
Our stops around town took us to several popular stores. While most of the proprietors did have bright coloured toy guns on their shelves, they still supported the Y.F.F.’s stance against the sale of these toys.
Jacqueline Roe, Manager, Hofius Hardware
“We plan not to import any guns. Even if it’s a gun that doesn’t really look like a real gun it’s still promoting the criminal activity in the youth so we will not import any guns from this point onward.”
“There’s all kinds of toys that are available for boys. Boys like thing with action and movement and things that allow them to run around so anything to do with vehicles, toy vehicles, construction vehicles, adventure, they love pirates, they love adventure games, of course we have board games as well but boys ten to be more into the adventure area so we have to cater for that market. So there are alternatives, they don’t have to take a gun and go out in the street and play with it, they can do other things.”
Although Romacs Plaza also had bright coloured water guns on sale, manager, Nina Mahitani supported the idea of not selling toy guns, offering a variety of other options.
Nina Mahitani, Manager, Romacs Plaza
“Our kids should be taught from very young age to build things not destroy things so by giving them guns at a very young age you are kind of setting the stage for the future so better now give them tolls, give them little hammers, little things, teach them to build, to create and that would be a better future “
Marion Ali
“So you don’t in any way promote the concept or the notion of having toy guns on your shelves?”
Nina Mahitani
“No. None at all. I don’t like violence, no physical violence, no verbal violence either.”
Marion Ali
“Did you at any point have guns on you shelves?”
Nina Mahitani
“Most of the time it’s always been water guns in different size, shapes and colours.”
One merchant who absolutely does not support the sale of toy guns is owner of Wellworth Stores, Vinod Bhojwani.
Vinod Bhojwani, owner, Wellworth Stores
“We bring more educational toys and some cars and things like those, dolls for the girls; we sell hammers and many different type of toys you could see here. I think guns are good for the police.”
We also stopped at Beauty Plaza, A and R, and Mirab. All had toy guns on their shelves and preferred not to comment on the issue. When the legislation does take effect, merchants who still wish to sell toy guns will have that option, provided the guns are specially labelled.
Kevin Cadle
“Toys guns should come with a red mark or label stating clearly on it that it is a toy gun and that it could not be used for any kind of crime or violence because people would be able to recognize it as a toy gun. Here in Belize we recognize that that is not true, that the guns that we have in our country, the toy guns, does not have these labels, there’s no type of mark on them and things like that to state that they are toy guns and so these are the things that we are trying to push for in the legislation to ensure that we could basically deal with situations like that.”
Cadle says the Youth for the Future will also hold a toy gun drive that will seek to offer children books in exchange for guns and another that will collect toys other than toy guns to distribute to low income families.
Marion Ali reporting for News Five.
