Toy gun ban ‘won’t solve gun violence crisis’

A leading academic has weighed in on calls for a ban on toy guns in Barbados, arguing that such measures are misguided and ineffective in addressing the root causes of gun violence.

Professor Dwayne Devonish, a management and organisational behaviour expert at the University of the West Indies, insists that parental guidance and community intervention hold the key to curbing youth delinquency and crime.

Professor Devonish spoke to Barbados TODAY in response to the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) urging authorities to ban toy guns, claiming these seemingly harmless items were inadvertently fostering a culture of violence among the nation’s youth.

The professor dismissed the idea as ineffective, emphasising that there is no scientific evidence linking childhood play with toy guns to violent behaviour involving real firearms in adulthood.

He said: “I don’t think a wholesale ban on the importation of the sale of toy guns is going to make any dent into the gun violence situation.

 “I understand where their head space is, [because] there is this anecdotal belief that toy guns can desensitise children to the dangers of real firearms by making the guns appear harmless and fun, but let me just say here, I am a believer in science. Based on my research there is no sufficient evidence to confirm that the use or play of toy guns with children, will translate to the use of illicit firearms for violent purposes in adulthood.”

Professor Devonish also warned against the broader implications of banning toy guns.

“It creates a slippery slope context, in the sense that if you want to ban toy guns, what would stop you now from banning video games with gun violence, or movies and cartoons involving gun violence? I don’t think it’s a substantive recommendation,” he said.

He added: “I think we should focus more on poor parenting, mental issues, and exposure to actual violence that children might be enduring or experiencing. Those are more significant contributors. There is a responsibility and role with parents or guardians to guide and educate children on the difference between play and real violence. [Banning toys] is a slippery slope situation I think we should avoid.”

Professor Devonish called for a more robust approach to tackle gun violence at its core. He urged The Barbados Police Service and law enforcement agencies to intensify efforts to combat the importation, sale, and transfer of illicit firearms within communities.

“We need to get much more aggressive. The Barbados Police Service and law enforcement need to get extra aggressive in terms of cracking down on the importation and the sale and transfer of illicit firearms in this country,” he explained. “We need to arrest the problem at the core level of the communities and the spaces in which these illicit firearms are being exchanged and traded.”

He stressed: “[We need] to have much more medium to long-term interventions like conflict resolution, community programming [and] policing needs to improve. We need to look at our education system, we need to have a great influx of counsellors at the primary and secondary schools, and parents and guardians need the support from interventionists to help manage the at-risk situations they are facing.” 

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb