WEWS: Daniel Flannery, director of the Begun Center for Violence Prevention and Research, attributed part of the rise of children carrying around toy guns to protection.
“These kids don't feel safe,” Flannery said, also noting that children and young adults alike have become desensitized to guns in society. “Clearly the level of exposure, the immediacy of exposure, the intensity of exposure everywhere all the time makes kids and young adults feel this is just the way of the world.”