We can remember a time when children played cowboys and indians or cops and robbers and no one got killed. Kids would crook their fingers in the shape of guns and shout out “Pow! Pow! Pow!” as other youngsters would pretend to fall dead…then get right back up and play again. If any of the children had toy guns they were just that — unmistakably toys.

To us it seems that over the past several years manufacturers have been designing and marketing the toy guns for the mistaken sake of realism and, of course, money. They’ve done their job too well.

Now those “toys” too often look too much like the real thing for anyone’s comfort.

It’s also a trend that concerns Franklin Police. Their worry — and we think it’s justified — is that people with fake guns risk getting shot by someone with an actual weapon. A law officer, for example, cannot afford to pause long enough to ensure the other person pointing the weapon does not have the real thing.

After all, he who hesitates is lost.

We question the wisdom of any parent buying their son or daughter such realistic-looking guns. The teen or young adult who carries and points fake guns might well appear and feel powerful, especially if they’re pointing them at another human. But those props are no match for the firearm that shoots real bullets that leave real holes behind that really kill.

We urge anyone carrying fake guns for any reason to refrain from treating them as toys because, simply put, your life may well depend on it.