Its good that parents care but sometimes its too much when they become hover copters and never let their children get "dirty". After all, how are children going to learn if they never make mistakes?
I was allowed to play with fire, cut with sharp nail scissors, play with knives, an ax and even a blow torch. I was always supervised, sometimes not when I was sneaky ;) but I grew up well rounded. I never caused any thing to burn down, never poked my eye out, cut my leg off, although I did accidentally cut my finger when I was using a razor blade and or a knife while cutting food but it was just a little cut and I learn to be careful more then ever considering the knives in our house were are still are not that sharp. Ironically the only thing I hurt was when I chased a neighbors cat down a small set of stairs, I ended up falling down and cutting my lip on an old welcome mat and getting stitches. I also cracked my teeth at another neighbors house from horse play because I tripped. Over all I was smart enough and mature enough at a very young age to know what the risks were. I guess my parents knew that I wasn't one of those kids who shouldn't be given scissors and who would run with them.
And yet there's another side to how my dad sees me still. A not so positive side either. :|

I would be grateful to have cautious parents! It means they care! Mine could care less and I got into stupid stuff when I was younger because of it. I know that probably doesn't help but I would rather have parents ho care too much instead of not enough.

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Parents are never too cautious, they just love their children too much. Of course their kids would never understand that until they will become parents .

I am a father and it is not always easy to decide when to say yes or no to our children. Parents need to take into consideration how mature is the child and the circumstances. For example, many children are exposed to guns at an early age. Maybe they have grown in a farm or a remote area where they could go hunting or they needed protection from wild animals. My son asked recently for a bb gun. I had to say no because we live in the outskirts of a city. Walking around with a gun, even a fake one, will make the neighbors call the police and report that someone is brandishing a weapon. In United States, police is wary of the preponderance of armed civilians. It is a nightmare to imagine the possible outcome of a child confronted by police with their weapons drawn. Also my son has never being exposed to weapons, not even a slingshot. Your parents have made their decisions based on your age, maturity and surroundings. I grew up in an apartment and there were many things I could not do that maybe a child growing in a house with plenty of space could do. Your parents maybe live in an area where they are restricted themselves of things that they would like to do. Your parents want the best for you. Talk to them without any confrontation and explain to them that you would like to create things. Show them what do you plan to do and engage them. Maybe you will obtain better results that way.

My parents seem full of contradictions. They let me use real guns and play Airsoft all the time, yet forbid me to have an air rifle, they let me have knives and swords, make potato and air cannons, play with explosives and high voltage, and shoot bows and hunt. They don't let me ride dirtbikes or ATV's. They don't let me go to anyones house without calling their parents and talking for an hour, they hate the computer and everything about it, yet they bought me an Xbox 360 and don't care how many sick and violent games I play. I am allowed to wander through San Francisco unsupervised for hours, yet when I hang out for a few hours in a small local town where I go to school, I must check in every hour and stay in one location. They let me have all kinds of knives as aforementioned, but refuse to let me make a tomahawk. I am not allowed to use a small battery powered chainsaw, but I can use any other power tool around the house, including circular and table saws.

Your guess is as good as mine. Thankfully, I am 18 now, so I only have to put up with it all for a few more months.

It's our nature. We want to make our kids tough, but we also want them to survive. I walk a real tight-rope with mine. I figure what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. My kids got their first machetes at age 2, first BB guns at age 4, and their first real guns at age 6. THey began riding horses without me at 4 and 6, began operating motor vehicles and hunting (without me) at 8, began camping alone (1/2 mile from the house)and operating a boat without me at about 10, and began using power tools at 12. Sounds liberal eh? I still don't let them ride their bikes on the street. I never let them watch Barney or Teletubbies. I don't let them work on any high voltage electric items. I never let them listen to boy-bands or rap. I didn't let them use a pushmower till they were 12. No welding till they were 12. Still no unsupervised handguns. I don't let them ride with anyone under 25, unless they let my oldest boy (age 14,with a drivers permit)drive. I don't let them go anywhere overnight without a gun. I don't let them hang out in town alone. My 14 year old just started using a chainsaw, AND ITS FREAKING ME OUT!