If the mother's like this in this situation, she'll probably just outright say the brother is the favourite.

guns do not kill people

Well, they kinda do.

But no one should be allowed to use one. I'm allowed to state my political views on guns and such, and I don't believe they should be allowed in human hands.

You think criminals are going to follow anti-gun laws!? Oh hell no they won't! Anti-gun laws are just making it easier for the criminals to do harm, since (assuming the anti-gun law is passed) no law abiding citizen would be able to easily defend themselves against some psycho with a gun because they had their defense weapons taken away.

Funny thing is if guns are illegal and no one can get one, then the price of a black market gun would increase drastically...which would make killing someone a little more costly. not only that it'd be easy to know who was a criminal since law abiding citizens wouldn't carry them around, and less toddlers would shoot their mom's in Walmart.

well, guess my family that does their own hunting and ranching cattle is screwed because you decided what's right and wrong for every situation involving guns. OPs family most likely are hunters, guns are common gifts in my family for that reason. I got one I use for turkey season.

I guess I should have specified. Automatic assault weapons should be illegal, like they are here in Canada and hand guns should be extremely limited and regulated. Hunting rifles and certain shotguns are practical for specific jobs and lifestyles...but if you want a gun to "Protect yourself" and claim to be law-abiding, it's pretty hard to unlock a gun safe then unlock the trigger locks and then go to another room to grab your ammo...all for the guy who's presumably already inside.

"Automatic assault weapons" don't exist. Assault rifles do but they're extremely hard to get with at least a 6 month waiting period with the ATF. There are semi-automatic sporting rifles but they're used in a tiny percentage of shootings. The overwhelming majority of shootings are done using handguns.

@125 Not to mention the fact that even the cheapest fully automatic weapons start at $4000. Not something the average deranged person can afford.

I'm live in Canada so we don't really have the same issue of mass shootings, which I notice generally use automatic weapons and the like...

The last time there was a shooting involving fully automatic weapons in the US I believe was the North Hollywood Shootout in 1997 and while 20 people were injured there were only 2 fatalities and those 2 people were the gunmen.

Then she can buy it herself, not OP.

Some people, myself included, think experiences are more valuable than possessions. But more importantly, are you seriously defending the ethics of taking one child's birthday money or hard earned money that she was going to spend for her own birthday gift generously on her family, and then giving it to another child? You need to go sit in the corner and think about that a little more.

I completely agree... But sometimes possessions facilitate experience. I wouldn't have most of the best experiences I have had or 90% of my friends if I wasn't a car guy. Wouldn't have the experiences I have diving without my SCUBA gear. Doesn't apply here. Just generally speaking.

It's also not the mom's place to decide what OP should do with his/her money. And cancelling plans OP had for their birthday and saying "no, you're going to do what *I* want" is incredibly unfair and selfish of her.