This recent feature photo is disturbing as it shows a happy boy brandishing two real looking “inflatable novelty rifles.”

Now toy assault weapons are for sale on the internet as well as actual plans for making real plastic guns with an inexpensive 3D printer, as reported in the Aug. 1 Portland Press Herald.

Police can mistake toy guns for real guns. If a police officer tells a kid to drop his gun, they may think it’s a game and “shoot back.” What then?

We should be teaching our kids to never point a gun, real or toy, at anyone. In the U.S., a child is killed by a gun every 30 minutes.

That tragically included an 8-year-old in Maine. But they often do, as your photo shows. In addition to the many law enforcement officers, there are countless other civilians carrying concealed or open weapons and some are ready and willing to use them, as happens every week.

The current “gun culture” in our country is out of control. What can the Portland Press Herald do to help bring it under control?

David Alexander

Gorham