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Police have been accused of glamorising weapons after children as young as seven were pictured brandishing plastic machine guns to take aim at ' terrorist targets' at a mock firing range.

West Midlands Police invited a class of pupils from Kings Norton Primary School, in Birmingham, to visit a firearms training facility for an event entitled 'Ready, aim, smile!'

But parents were horrified after pictures emerged of the young year three pupils laughing as they 'fired' the guns at fake targets and tried on police riot gear.

Parents have accused police of "sending out the wrong message" by encouraging young children to use weapons and making shooting terrorists appear like a "game."

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The event was organised by police after pupils from the school sent letters of support to officers after keeping them safe following the recent terror attacks in Manchester and London.

Kings Norton School said they has supported the visit because they wanted pupils to be able to learn about the police and the job they are doing to keep them safe.

The school said it was part of a wider event to educate pupils about the job the police do, and for them not to be scared, after they questioned teachers about seeing more armed officers appearing on the streets in the wake of the recent terror attacks.

One dad, who only wanted to give his first name, David, said: "Explaining to children about why there are police carrying guns on the streets is one thing but actually getting them to pose up laughing while pretending to fire these weapons at, who? Terrorists? Well that sends out the wrong message in my book.

"The police even put out a press release on the internet, entitled 'Ready, aim...smile!' I'm sorry but I don't see anything remotely cheerful about raising a gun.

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"What it does is glamorise guns and makes shooting terrorists nothing more than a game.

"Children should be taught about terrorism in the same way as they are taught about stranger danger and road safety."

One Twitter user said: "Mmmmmm kids with guns like that ... is that a good lesson? Great to see engagement though..."

Another said: "I do very much thank you guys for what you do but must admit I'm a bit horrified by this picture."

A Facebook user said: "Why? Which subject area does this cover?

"Since when did replacing cooking & gardening with shooting ranges become a life skill?

"I fully get and support that children need to rebuild confidence in our police services, I just think there were better ways of doing so then playing target practice."

Another said: "Not comfortable with these pupils practicing shooting even if it's with toy guns.

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"Surely there were other ways to help them - not carrying weapons maybe?"

Another user said: "I'm not comfortable with this at all. Primary school kids?

"Parents don't like buying toy guns let alone showing them real ones. Not sure about this at all."

Headteacher Mike Tromans said the event, held on June 19, was not about glamorising weapons but teaching pupils about the role of the police so they feel safe on the streets and understand what officers do. He said it included a number of elements - not just learning about guns.

He told Mirror Online: "I can see why parents might be concerned by these pictures.

"But this was part of a wider event where children were invited to learn about police in the community and the work they do. They were not just on the firing range, they were also able to talk to police officers and look inside patrol cars.

"This needs to not be taken out of all context. For me it's about children staying safe and realising what the police are doing to keep them safe.

"They were invited by the police - the people who work with us in the community to keep them safe.

"The children were given plastic guns to show what a part of policing is sadly about. Sometimes they sadly have to use firearms. I don't think this is glamorising guns. I totally hate guns and I think we are lucky to live in a country where we don't have full time armed police on the streets.

"It's about the bigger picture. It's about what is being done to protect our way of life in this country and make us feel feel confident to walk the streets. We want our little people to feel safe.

"This event was about the children's curriculum, learning about people who work with us to keep us safe. It wouldn't stop me from sending children again."

Mr Tromans added that parents were sent a letter explaining that children were to visit an armed response team and asking for their consent.

Deputy Headteacher Dawn Chapman added that the class received the invite after children had written to police when they raised in class that they had seen more officers carrying guns.

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She said: "It was a lovely surprise for us to be invited to the police base and the pupils had a fantastic time, especially on the range and using the sirens and flashing lights; as you'd expect the noisy things proved particularly popular.

"Quite a few of the children said how they'd like to be police officers."

During the two hour event, held at the firearms training facility in Aston, Birmingham, pupils got to try on police riot gear, see inside police cars and question officers about their jobs.

In a police press release published after the event Sergeant Mike Dunbar said: "It's great that children are having discussions in school about issues such as security, we want children to feel at ease approaching and speaking to our officers.

"You hear parents telling children if they don't do as they're told then they'll tell a police officer.

"I know it's only light-hearted but for children to be scared of seeing police, or see them as an intimidating authority figure, is the last thing we want.

"You can see from the photos and from the looks on the kids' faces on the day that they all had a wonderful time, they were our VIPs for the day and it was a pleasure to host them.

"Hopefully we'll get chance to say hello to some of them again on patrol soon."

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “The pupils had sent in letters of appreciation to officers for keeping the public safe in the wake of recent events after seeing an increase in armed officers on the streets.

“The visit was also used as an opportunity for us to take the time out to talk with the children and stress to them that they shouldn’t feel scared and that we are here to keep people safe and give them an insight into our work."