A 12-year-old boy was escorted home by armed police after being spotted with a toy gun – and his father is livid.

The pre-teen had been hanging out with pals in Whangaparoa, near Auckland, New Zealand, when the lads headed to a discount store to purchase a $5 (£2.51) toy gun.

A member of the public reported seeing the boys out with a realistic "revolver-looking" pistol and notified the police, who spoke to the boys and dropped them home.

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But the boy's dad, Tony Mooney, was surprised to see his son being brought home by armed cops.

"It's not something you expect – I was expecting his friend's mother to drop them off," he said.

"They've been walking around and obviously someone has seen them and called the police which is fair enough."

While the toy they bought this time was harmless, this isn't the first time the boys have purchased guns to play with from the shop, having previously bought a pellet gun that could cause genuine injury if someone were struck by it, NZ Herald reported.

"They thought they could just use it like Nerf guns and shoot each other," Tony added.

"Someone could lose an eye. I just broke it and put it in the rubbish.

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"I don't think kids should be able to buy a BBG gun off the shelf if they are unsupervised."

While Tony understands that selling the guns to kids isn't illegal, he nevertheless went to the retailer to express his concerns, stating that there was a question of "morality" behind handing over even harmless toy weapons to children.

"The cops said it, and they said it too, that it's not illegal to sell it, but that doesn't make it right."

He added that the sales were particularly controversial "at the moment with what's going on," referring to a swathe of raids on shops that have taken place in New Zealand in recent weeks.

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"Given the current climate, I think we need to take a look and question whether we should be selling kids these things and take the money with no moral conscience of what 12-year-old boys are going to do with it," he said.

"Why is it legal? I don't think it's right."

The shop was not available for comment when approached, NZ Herald stated.

The Daily Star has contacted local police for comment.

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