There's nothing more American than a young, braided-haired girl holding an American flag in one hand and a gun in the other. You might as well model a superhero after that image, because it would sell like hot cakes. We need a true American hero/heroine. You think Captain America is good enough? Captain America isn't American enough for me. I need something more intense. This is that.
That could be a toy or it could be real. No one minded making toy guns that looked incredibly real back then because kids weren't getting shot for that yet. Hell, a lot of the toy guns actually were real. You can still get them if you're not in pansy state, or if you go into a lawless place like Walmart. They sell guns, bombs, and everything in between. It's crazy, but in a good way.