Paging Dr. Freud

I, too, was interested to read the 8/3/06 article “Police Find BB Gun Resembles Real Life AR-15 Rifle.” But for the exact opposite reason as Paul Abramo—that guy must be joking. It’s bad enough we have to fight a battle against gun control in an effort to defend all our freedoms, now there’s someone suggesting toy gun control? It’s a toy. Granted, this boy was certainly inappropriate in how he played with the toy, but to assume from one example of a child’s bad judgement that he is “obviously heading for a life of crime” is outrageous. Is every child with a play kitchen set going to be a chef? Is every child with an easel going to be an artist? Is every child who uses his toy baseball bat to hit his sibling going to abuse his spouse? Certainly this boy needs to be taught how to respect other people, and their property. But how about giving the kid a chance to grow up before sentencing him? Suggesting toy gun registration, or any form of toy gun control, is absolutely ridiculous. Maybe Abramo’s letter was written simply to illustrate the lunacy of gun control as a whole—that’s the only way his letter makes any sense. Sheri Lasslett Stillwater