When Toys Come with Bullets, the Game is Called Death

  The trouble with the gun is that it is not a toy. And we live in a world that thinks it is.
  Think of the hunting accidents. Think of the times the gun goes off inadvertently, killing someone. Think of the times people get the gun out to play with it, and what ends up playing out is death.
   A bomb would never be a toy, and neither should a gun. We wouldn't let our children -- teenagers though they be -- get a bomb out of the closet and start playing with it. Granted, we wouldn't have a bomb in the closet, to begin with. Guns are there to protect against crime. The bomb has no such purpose. So, we don't keep bombs around.
   But, the point is, the gun is no more a toy than a bomb.
   And, say we did keep a mild form of a bomb around, say a firecracker. It, too, can bring death and harm when played with.
   When weapons become toys, life becomes death.
   I heard a story today. If I heard it correctly, some kids were playing with a gun, and one of them must have gotten upset, and shot and killed his friend. They played with the gun as if it were a toy, and it was more of a bomb, instead.
  I heard another story today, about how a musician was using a gun to film a music video, and it went off and shot him in his face, killing him. Bless him. Wonderful musician, I'm told. But, the toy he played with was part of a game he could not win. When it went off, the playing was over.
   Don't play with fire, it is said. And some forms of fire are these things that fire.
   I don't know that I fault the musician. He was but using something as a tool to make a great video. But, he underestimated the danger, and the danger exacted his life. He is not alone. We live in a world where the gun is too often played with and ends up doing a world of harm.
   We play with the gun as if it's a toy. But when it goes off, the playing is over.