Toy guns look fake up close, but wave them around outside a school and people start to panic.

Toy guns: harmless fun or gateway to the "real thing"?

The toy gun debate (yes, there's a toy gun debate) raised its ugly head in Blenheim this week, after a toy gun sparked an armed offenders squad callout to one of the town's high schools.

Blenheim mother Sally Ritschny​ said if she could wave a magic wand and ban toy guns, she would.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF The armed offenders squad in the grounds of Marlborough Boys' College on Wednesday morning. The students pictured were not involved.

"When they look like the real thing, it's a bit scary. What are we teaching them?" Ritschny said.

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"Where do you draw the line? You're not going to stop kids playing with water pistols, but I don't think I'd want my son playing with BB guns. They can be quite dangerous," Ritschny said.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF Blenheim mother Sally Ritschny says she would ban toy guns, if she had a magic wand.

But Only $3 shop assistant Norman Tse said there was nothing wrong with children playing with toy guns, as long as parents taught them to play responsibly.

"We sell toy guns to kids, but it's up to them how they play with them. We can't control that, only a parent can teach them about that."

Tse and Ritschny's comments came after a student was spotted with what was believed to be a firearm at Marlborough Boys' College early on Wednesday, and a member of the public called police.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF Only $3 shop assistant Norman Tse says retailers have no way to control what children do with toy guns.

Deputy principal Michael Heath said there was no immediate danger to students, but the school did not take the situation lightly.

"Even at a close distance, toy weapons can often look authentic. And there is no place at all for toy guns or replica weapons to be brought to school, or carried in public," Heath said.



"Unfortunately toy guns are readily available for purchase in retail stores and online, so we ask that parents and caregivers exercise caution when buying these for their children, and explain that toy guns in public are just as serious as the real thing."

Staff would speak to the entire school about the incident to make sure students understood the serious nature of waving around a toy gun in public, Heath said.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF A student at Marlborough Boys' College brought a toy gun to school on Wednesday, which was mistaken for a real gun.

It was not the first time toy guns had sparked a police response in New Zealand.

A Wellington man holding what looked like a firearm caused a suburban street to be closed in May before police realised the gun was a toy.

Last year a street in Sydenham, Christchurch, was closed after a man was seen playing with a toy gun in the street, and a teenager playing with a toy gun outside Hamilton's Child Youth and Family building was taken away in handcuffs in 2016.

STUFF Police arrested a youth after he was seen with what appeared to be a gun outside Child Youth and Family in Hamilton in 2016.

But New Zealand's history of toy gun scares was nothing compared to reports from the United States.

A 12-year-old boy was shot and killed by police while playing with a pellet gun at a park in Cleveland in 2015, and a 13-year-old Californian boy carrying an assault rifle replica at school was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies in 2013.

Blenheim woman Miriama Flatt​, 26, said children and teenagers in New Zealand were increasingly being influenced by American culture through news, movies, television and social media.

AP Demonstrators blocked Public Square in Cleveland to protest the police shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2015.

"Guns have been in the media a lot lately with all the shootings in America and it's spreading into the younger generations more these days. It's quite frightening that they're being influenced by it," Flatt said.

"Boys are going to be boys and they love the army and stuff, but I think there should be age restrictions on toy guns because it scares a lot of people even when it's not a real gun. It's just not necessary ... We need to keep our schoolchildren safe."

Former teacher Dave Poswillo​ said if children and teenagers were taught about why guns were a serious topic, he had no problem with toy guns.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF Blenheim woman Miriama Flatt says there should be age restrictions on toy guns.

"My children played with toy guns. If they weren't playing with toy guns, they'd pick up sticks or use their fingers. I think it's a case of educating them ... you just need parents talking to them. As a parent I would make sure I was regulating their toys.

"We live in a society where we don't really have a gun problem, like certain other countries. I certainly wouldn't ban toy guns."

2 Fantastic Variety Store manager Naresh Maniya​ said the store sold several toy guns to children and teenagers each week - but they were pirate pistols, camouflage rifles and orange-tipped cap guns that were visibly fake.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF Former teacher Dave Poswillo says toy guns are harmless if parents regulate their toys.

"We get people buying costumes who need guns, like a cowboy costume. We used to play cops and robbers when I was a kid, you need guns for that. But they shouldn't be realistic. Toys should look like toys.

"If you can tell it's fake there's no problem. Real guns are illegal without a licence and that's good, it should be different to the US."

But Arcadia area manager David Scoon​ said the Blenheim arcade changed the gun games on offer in response to concerns from parents.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF 2 Fantastic Variety Store manager Naresh Maniya says the store regularly sells toy guns to children, teenagers and adults for costumes.

They were no games with shooting at humans, and recently a hunting game had been relegated to the back room, Scoon said.

Crazy Gunner, the newest game at the arcade, did not have gun-shaped controllers but buttons to press. Other games involved shooting zombies or dinosaurs.

The arcade no longer had toy guns as prizes either, Scoon said.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF Arcadia area manager David Scoon says he avoids games with shooting aimed at humans or animals in response to concerns from parents.

"Personally I think it's all to do with America, because of the shootings there. And they say we're always 20 years behind America. The way it is at the moment with the political climate, we just wouldn't sell toy guns in here.

"There are trends in games and toys, they come and go. I do think it's PC-ness gone mad, or a reaction of the times. But that's what people want, and it's parents paying for the games, not the kids."