A Dry Summer for Boy Scouts as Group Bans Water Guns

A revised shooting manual prohibits the use of the toys.

By Rhonda FanningMay 21, 2015 9:15 am

Summer is almost upon us and that can only mean one thing… water gun fights, right? Well not if you’re a Boy Scout it won’t.

The group recently announced “Pointing any type of firearm or simulated firearm at any individual is unauthorized.”

One Scout blogger, Bryan Wendell, explained it this way, “‘A Scout is kind. What part of pointing a firearm [simulated or otherwise] at someone is kind?”’True point,” he writes.

The new ban has been getting a myriad of reactions, from support to outright ridicule.

Lets get away from the Scout’s reasoning that it’s just not nice, and back to the idea of kids being kids and playing with toy guns; water or otherwise. Where do we draw the line?

Keisha L. Bentley-Edwards, Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and UT-Austin, joins the Texas Standard to talk about kids and play.