PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Months after a six-year-old shot his teacher in Newport News, the founder of Stop the Violence Team was on the phone with his son in Norfolk when a gunman approached.

“Yes, (I was) right there on the phone with my son,” activist Bilal Muhammad said. “I can’t wish that on anyone. That was so, so, so, so painful and I didn’t see it coming. My son was … just trying to go to work. The next thing you know (my son said), ‘Would you take this gun out my face? Would you move this gun out of my face?’ And that quick POW (the sound of gunfire)!

Those were just two of the senseless cases of gun violence that dominated the headlines in 2023. As parents prepare for the gift-giving season, Muhammad and other activists say they will ask retailers to cease the sale of toy guns.

“Well, we haven’t (called for an end to sales yet) because it’s kind of close to Christmas,” Muhammad said. “We want to follow up right after the holidays are over. We want to ask them not to look at this as a commercialized profit, for the advancement of your business. Look at it as considering the future and for our family and our children’s sake.”

Abdul Aswad, executive director of children of the Sun Athletic/Education Foundation, said “I think they will grow up feeling that they need to have a real gun.”

Darnell Riddick comes to the discussion with street credibility. He is concerned a toy can be mistaken for a real gun.

“When I think about it, I’m thinking about war,” said Riddick, founder of Riddick Driven. “And then when I was growing up, we had these little pop guns. But, you knew, it was a pop gun. Now you can’t even tell.”

Philip Van Cleave, president of the pro-gun group, Virginia Citizens Defense League, said a toy gun ban is no match for violent crime.

“That’s what they’re thinking, but it’s not true,” Van Cleave said. “I’m sure all the gangbangers out there murdering people did not have toy guns running around when they were kids. You know, it’s not like toy guns are just toys. That’s all they are. Owning a toy car doesn’t mean you’re going to grow up and be a drunk driver, OK?

“I mean, if it did, then we should be banning toy cars and trucks and toy tractors. It’s a misguided attempt to try to steer people away from firearms, and it’s not going to work.”

As the shopping season comes to a close, the anti-violence activists say if a toy gun is already under the Christmas tree, parents should attempt to exchange that gift for a book, skates, or a skateboard.