The recent outpouring of concern due to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn., has resulted in some political movement on gun control as well as extreme acts of ignorance on behalf of overzealous gun control proponents. Here are five recent examples of such ridiculousness.
Girl suspended from kindergarten for threatening to shoot classmate with her pink Hello Kitty bubble gun. This occurred in Mount Carmel, Pa., on Jan. 10, 2013. A 5-year-old girl was suspended because she threatened to shoot herself and a classmate with a Hello Kitty bubble gun. She was suspended for 10 days for making terroristic threats.
On Feb. 5, 2013, in Alexandria, Va., police arrested a 10-year-old for bringing a toy gun to school. A 10-year-old boy was arrested after police said he brought a toy handgun to school after he showed it to others on a school bus. The boy, a fifth-grader at Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, was charged as a juvenile with brandishing a weapon, police said. He was also suspended from school, and further action is being considered, including expulsion.
A 7-year-old playing an imaginary game at school gets suspended for real. In Loveland, Colo., on Feb. 4, a second grader was suspended from school for a make-believe game he was playing. The child says he was trying to save the world, but school administrators say he broke a key rule during his pretend play. He threw an imaginary grenade into a box with pretend evil forces inside. The boy didn’t throw anything real or make any threats against anyone. He explains he was pretending to be the hero.
Also occurring during the first week of February, a 9-year-old 4th grade student at PS 52 in Staten Island, N.Y., was in the school cafeteria playing with LEGOs when he was taken to the principal’s office and threatened with suspension. One of his toys was a LEGO policeman that holds a 2-inch plastic gun. The school has a no-tolerance policy when it comes to toy guns. The boy’s father is a retired police officer.
On Dec. 21, 2012, a 6-year-old boy from Maryland was suspended from school after he apparently made a gun gesture with his hand and said “pow.” His family’s attorney filed an appeal to expunge the record of the incident, which school officials said was a threat “to shoot a student.” He was suspended for one day on Dec. 21, about a week after the shooting in Newtown, Conn.
