MacIntyre has participated in numerous meetings between Congress and entertainment executives regarding ratings systems and other measures aimed at reducing children's exposure to violence. Attending Toy Fair as a panelist discussing violence and toys, he told toymakers that the entertainment industry had waited too long to act, and was left to the mercy of grandstanding politicians eager to look good to their constituents. And believe me, handling the problem within the industry is better than having it handled by government. While codes of ethics and non-violent product lines make good press for the toy industry, some observers doubt such changes will do anything to reduce the amount of violence in our society. If you remove toy guns completely, you still won't be successful, because guns are a fetish in American culture.
Guns are a totem of power for the powerless in our society, a way of solving problems.
But the line emphasizes adventure and athletic prowess more than markmanship. Dorothy Singer, co-director of Yale University Family Research Center, agreed. As of 1997, the most recent year for which data is available, there were 107,554 federal firearms licensees, a group which includes gun shops, pawnbrokers, collectors and manufacturers. The more violence you see, the more violent you are likely to be. We have many studies that say kids who play with toy guns at a preschool level are more likely to be aggressive in nursery schools and day care centers.