Meanie Mum

This morning, my youngest went off to school very upset and pissed off. Why? Because I told him I would not buy him an illegal airsoft gun for his birthday.

What makes this all an exceptional pain in the backside is that I come across as Meanie Mum even though I'm taking my responsibilities seriously. Unfortunately, I am alone in this as he has friends whose parents have bought guns that minors are not authorised to use, and let their sons play with them.

Uzi mini replica

The law is exceptionally clear. Décret N° 99-240 du 24 mars 1999 is the one dealing with airsoft regulations for minors and it forbids the sale of, use of, lending of, borrowing of replica guns with a fire power over 0.08joules to under 18s. It's true that authorised mini guns have a puny fire power, and yes, they look a bit pathetic but that's the sodding law.

My son tells me he and his friends are careful - they wear goggles, they are responsible. I say bollocks. Accidents happen. Everything is always all right and hunky dory until it isn't, and that's when the shit hits the fan.

I'll bet that a parent whose child loses an eye to an accidental shot from an illegal gun will not be saying "Oh dear, never mind". No, that parent will be ranting and raving and heading off to the police station to press charges. An accident involving an illegal gun will not be covered by any insurance company, so it's the parent of the child who fired the fatal shot who is ultimately responsible, and will be hauled before the judge.

That parent will be faced with a demand for costly compensation and will most likely spend time in prison (especially if he or she does not have a childhood sob story to tell). My son is prepared for me to take on that responsibility, but hey, guess what, I'm not! The possible consequences are life-destroying financially and socially. I don't fancy owing hundreds of thousands of euros, or spending time in prison, or losing my job and my kids. No ta.

My son's friends' parents don't seem to care about, or are unaware of their responsibilities though. They are cool parents who let their kids play with exciting, powerful guns. They are confident that their kids will be sensible and wear their goggles, they have faith in their child, they think that nothing can go wrong...

And nothing does go wrong, until it does, and someone - a playmate taking dust out of his eye, a passer-by, a dog - catches a rogue bullet in the eye and is blinded.

So not only is my son pissed off, but I am too. I'm pissed off because Meanie Mum has to explain in a hundred different ways why playing with illegal guns is a Bad Idea and knows that nothing will make this situation acceptable to my son.

If only they all played with mini replicas it would be okay, but you can't have nearly all the kids shooting powerful  Kalashnikovs and one kid with a pea-shooter. So that means that I have to tell my kid not to play with his mates AS WELL!

Meanie Mum is in the right but being a party pooper is a dreary place to be.

I finished by telling him he could do as he liked when he's 18. Some consolation that was...