Killing zombies on campus just isn't as much fun as it used to be. Students at Bowling Green State University once carried Nerf guns for a week each semester, shooting the zombies before the creatures could tag them. Participants were seen by most bystanders as nerdy but harmless kids who liked role-playing. These days, bright plastic Nerf guns…

Biology and the particular gun culture of the United States come together to explain the persistent and powerful attraction of American boys to both real guns and toy guns. The 1990s saw adults begin to conflate "the gun problem" with "the boy problem," sparking attempts (largely failed) to banish toy guns from homes and…

Research has shown that children often engage in gun play when they find a firearm and that this behavior is often involved in unintentional firearm injuries. Previous research has shown existing programs to be ineffective for teaching children safety skills to reduce gun play. This study examined the effectiveness of a behavioral skills training…