http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=001851641145319&rtmo=lnzuuozt&atmo=99999999&pg=/et/00/9/5/wgun05.html

Head brings in a licence to play with toy guns
By Paul Chapman in Wellington

CHILDREN as young as four in New Zealand are being required to apply for
“licences” for toy guns.

The scheme was launched at Tahunanui kindergarten in Nelson, South Island,
and is spreading rapidly. Children must answer questions and learn rules
before they can play gun games. Card licences must then be carried.

Helen Durbridge, the head teacher said: “They have to tell us the rules of
guns and the first rule is that you never point a gun at anybody.”
Applicants for a licence must say why they want one. Those who say they want
to shoot endangered animals are told why this must not be done.

Youngsters who want to play cops and robbers are told that New Zealand
police are usually unarmed, so shooting is forbidden. But children who want
to put down a seriously injured pretend horse, or hunt possums – seen as a
pest – may be granted a licence.

New Zealand has a high level of gun ownership because of its rural
lifestyle. But a series of mass murders during the past decade, and
incidents in which police have shot criminals, have heightened public
awareness of the dangers.