Parents are no longer buying toy guns for their children. Instead they are seeking out educational computer games, store owners said yesterday.

Margaret Samuel, a housewife, who was shopping along High Street, San Fernando, said: ’I am not buying these cars and guns for my son. We are in a different time, where we cannot trust people anymore. We cannot allow our children to roam the streets as we did long ago. We have to keep our eyes on them at all times,’ she said.

Samuel said when her 10-year-old son opens his presents this year, there would be no guns or cars. ’I don’t want to say what I bought for him, but it is something educational. I prefer to have him sitting inside the house doing something constructive,’ she said.

Store owners said even water guns were not selling this year, a trend they had noticed over the past couple years.

Patricia Chunilal, manager of Toymart, Chaguanas, said guns were no longer at the top of parents’ lists for Christmas. ’People are not buying guns, they are looking for more of the indoor toys. For the girls they are buying Hannah Montana dolls. Many of them are also asking about the Vtech and Leap Frog educational games,’ she said.

Aneesa Mohammed, who owns a store along High Street, San Fernando said toy guns which she bought two years ago were still on the shelves. ’The guns are just gathering dust in the store, so this year I got wise and decided not to buy any. I invested in the video and computer games,’ she said.

At Gopaul Lands Toy Store in Marabella, many parents were shopping for computer games. ’We are looking for games for the children to remain inside. The computer games and those to connect to the television are ideal,’ Sarah Ali said.

An employee at the store said the demand for computer games had increased over the years.