A town in New York held a buyback-style event for children in the area, asking for their toy guns in exchange for a different Christmas gift.

According to WABC, officials in the Long Island town of Hempstead invited children to exchange their imitation firearms for a "safe alternative."

Former Tucson, Arizona, police officer Brandon Tatum called the event an "overreaction" Saturday on "Fox & Friends" and stressed that he vehemently disagrees with it.

"I think that we need to teach our children about gun safety. We need to give them access to information on these topics," he said.

Some children were reportedly given toy guns at the Dec. 13 event in order to trade them in for different toys.

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Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright said that he disagrees with Tatum's opinion "2,000 percent."

"I'm all about trying to prevent these things from happening going forward, from senseless people dying or being injured, and I think this is one way to do that," he said.

Lt. Derek Warner, of the Hempstead Village Police Department, told WABC that children's lives could be put at risk if they're given toy guns because kids could potentially mistake them for real firearms.

Tatum also said that to "demonize" the ownership of guns is counterproductive for children.

"I think we need to do the right thing by teaching our children about safety with guns just like we do when children go to the swimming pool," he said. "You teach them about safety, and that's gonna curb the violence of curb the deaths that are associated to our children."

Seawright argued that events similar to the one in Hempstead teach kids responsible and proper gun use at an early age.

Watch the debate between Tatum and Seawright above.

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