Is it normal for a six year old boy to be obsessed with guns?

Question

Over the past week, I spent a great deal of time with 6 kids. 4 boys, aged 1,2,6,& 8, and two teenaged girls. I also have neices and nephews in ages ranging from 1-25.

The six year old boy was constantly talking about killing people and animals and shooting at stuff. He brought a play handgun over, and with birthday money, bought a play automatic rifle. It didn't shoot anything, but made noise when you ****** it or pulled the trigger. His Dad is a hunter, and at first, I thought this was where the gun thing was coming from. But he was really really really obsessed with "sniping" from the car booster seat out the window at passersby, and regularly pointed the gun right between the eyes of other kids and my husband and I, even after we told him guns of any kind were not allowed in the house, and they are NEVER to be pointed at a person.

(His parents were on vacation, and its the first time that he and his siblings have spent a week away from Mom and Dad). He talked about killing things about 50% of the time he spoke, and especially about killing people. My father in law is a retired undersheriff, and I took the boys over there so he could give them some "lessons" about guns, because we are so totally against them, and weren't sure how to handle it. Alex was really interested in how many people the sheriff shot (none) and did he kill a lot. To get him to stop focusing on the guns, the Sheriff talked about all the other things a police officer does, like protecting people, stopping abusive situations, catching shoplifters, stopping speeders and drunk drivers, etc.

When we just about got ready to leave to take the boys back to their grammas for Mom and Dad to pick them up, Alex picked up his gun, pointed right at my husbands head, and pretended to kill him. (This was because we made him leave the guns outside.) He says he wants to be in the army to kill people.

Other things: Because of a health problem between ages 1 and 2, he didn't get enough oxygen for almost a year, or gain any weight. He has some serious learning disabilites, and seems to not understand consequences of his actions. He can be a very cuddly kid sometimes, and very out of control other times. Any input:?

Answer 1

It's normal for boys to be interested in guns, but not to the obsessive point that this boy has reached.      the obsession is probably because of his mental handicap that does not allow him to fully understand the consequences of his actions.  

Maybe he was just insecure about being left by mom and dad and with you, if he's not that close to you and your husband.    Hopefully, that's it.  

I would mention to his parents that you were a little concerned over the obsession and that you think that maybe other people will view it as a problem.    I can tell you that if he's behaving that way and talking that way at school --he will be expelled and social services will become involved and recommend that he get some counseling for his violent fantasies.      If he' s not in school this year, he will be next year.       He will also be labeled as a problem child at the school with these behaviors.   Maybe taking that approach will get you farther with his parents.    

Good luck.        

Answer 2

Yeah I can remember being fascinated with guns at a young age but the talking about killing people would be much more troubling to me I dont think anyone but his parents can help him though.  

Answer 3

It's normal for boys around this age to like to play with guns (even if they have never had any exposure to them, and if they don't have play ones, they will make one out of a stick), but the kind of obsession you describe is concerning.

Maybe he is exposed to violent movies or video games, which influence children of this age in a big way because they still can't separate reality from fantasy.

I honestly can't say what to do, but maybe talk to his mum and dad about it when they get back.  It seems like an unhealthy obsession to me.

Answer 4

If his Dad is a hunter, he probably sees TV programs related to hunting and military shows.  A gun is not something a child already knows how to use and where to point.  This is taught or observed.  For example, we live in a farm town and my son loves tractors and other farm equipment.  He even knows how to turn them on and he is only 18 months.  It seems like this little one wants to be just like Dad.  I would let the parents know when they return so they can monitor what he sees a little more.  They also need to make a big deal out of gun safety, otherwise they are going to have a big problem on their hands; especially if he gets a hold of a real gun.