Thanks for all of your caring and informative replies. I never knew an unloaded gun could still be so dangerous, but I'm from quite a gun-ignorant part of the world, so please excuse me.

It could be a fake gun - so long as it was metal and had some weight to it. Pistol type guns are my main interest. In light of how dangerous this now seems, perhaps I would only ever consider ever using a fake gun.

I know where you're coming from Icey but I think I'd still have the fear/excitement that the toy gun could have been switched with a real gun.

Wordsmith, I feel your advice was particularly helpful - thank you ^_^