Photos of Prince George Playing With a Gun Cause Controversy

Photos of Prince George playing with a toy gun have sparked backlash on social media.

Prince George, the future King of England and third in line to the throne, attended father Prince William’s Maserati Royal Charity Polo Trophy match at Beaufort Polo Club on Sunday with his mother, Kate Middleton, and sister, Princess Charlotte. While Charlotte easily stole the show in her pink dress and matching sunglasses, doing somersaults in the grass, images of her brother playing with a toy gun caused a wave of controversy online.

“This isn’t okay anymore… My American side here, biased maybe b/c of everyday #gunviolence in USA,but my British side agrees. No child in this day and age should look at any gun as a fun toy. This looks far too real. .(And I LOVE Prince George, don’t get me wrong!)” one person wrote on Twitter, including an image of the four-year-old staring down the barrel of the toy gun.

“Here’s why the sight of #PrinceGeorge playing with a toy gun is triggering for some of us. Black mothers in the US have to teach their sons not to play with anything (a toy gun, a cell phone, etc.) a policeman could claim looked like a real gun. Their lives depend on it,” another commented.

Many others, however, did not take issue with the pictures.

“People are complaining because Prince George had a plastic gun. I had a plastic gun when I was little guess what I grew out of it I didn’t grow up to be a mass shooter or become obsessed with guns I hate guns now so just leave the boy alone and let him be a child,” one person wrote.

“What’s the point in kicking off about Prince George playing with a TOY gun when chances are he will serve our country in the forces at some point in his life. Pathetic,” another person commented, assuming that the future king will follow in the footsteps of his father and uncle, Prince Harry.

“People need to get a grip over Prince George and his toy gun. Kids have played with them for years, it doesn’t make them violent, it doesn’t mean they are going to grow up to be killers. It’s bloody ridiculous,” another Twitter user wrote.

Prince George, who is reportedly interested in the police and even asked for a police car for Christmas, was also reportedly spotted playing with a toy knife and handcuffs, prizes that, according to the National Review, he won at the polo match’s children’s fair.