Child Suspended For Taking Gun To School

[onehandle]

SIOUX FALLS (AP) — A student at a Sioux Falls elementary school has been suspended for bringing a gun into the building.

Administrators at Oscar Howe Elementary say the 8-year-old boy was given a five-day suspension for bringing the weapon — either a BB gun or air pistol — to school.

The student and his mother say it was a mistake. The boy grabbed his father’s backpack instead of his own. The bags are similar.

Sioux Falls police say the boy showed the gun to another student, who told a teacher.

http://yankton.net/articles/2010/04/11/news/doc4bc00bb2597c9985031303.txt

[slackmaster]

1. Imagine that poor man's shock when he reached for his sandwich and found a Scooby Doo lunch box

:rofl:

[Gman2]

4. Better outcome than the father who slid his stash into Jrs. Elmo backpack.

[cowman]

2. Ok and your point is?

[sharesunited]

6. The point can only be heightening awareness of law and policy.

The newspaper learned about the incident because the police were called.

The police were called because of concern that the weapon needed professional handling.

Bringing a gun into a school presumably violates school policy. But is it a crime in South Dakota?

[TheWraith]

10. It's somewhat irrelevant whether it's a crime or not.

The kid was certainly too young by law to possess a weapon, even a BB gun like this. However, since it was apparently an accident, there shouldn't be any long term consequences except perhaps for the father, who needs a good smack.

[cowman]

15. An airgun or BB gun needs professional handling?

I suppose you would ban those also?

[tburnsten]

21. Hardly a "weapon", unless you are a squirrel or smaller animal

[Callisto32]

26. And the police are the "only one[s] professional enough...."

:rofl:

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[theoldman]

5. When you are only 8 years old you don't know much about guns.

A Strong lecture would have been enough. In my opinion the father is the one who needs the lecture the most.

[demosincebirth]

14. One thing an eight year old does not do is check to see if its loaded, before

he decides to try the trigger.

[pipoman]

16. My 8 year olds did..

of coarse they are both 19 now and they still check if the gun is loaded when they pick it up.

[slackmaster]

24. The child made an innocent, honest mistake

He doesn't deserve any kind of punishment at all.

[xchrom]

7. Lucky no one was killed. Nt

[TheWraith]

9. According to the article, it was either a BB gun or an air pistol.

Neither are particularly lethal, even if they managed to go off.

[davepc]

20. You can put somebodies eye out with those nasty BB guns!

[tburnsten]

23. See post #22. Media is notorious for calling anything gun-shaped

a gun, even if it isn't so.

[katandmoon]

8. Wow. The father is lucky nobody tried to take HIS gun away from him that day and could only

defend himself with a juice box!

[Pavulon]

11. Not a firearm. ATF does not regulate BB guns, so not a gun.

at least that is my read of the poorly written article.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

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[PavePusher]

13. Really? Cite? n/t

[oneshooter]

18. They are considered firearms in New Jersey, and New York City.

A permit is needed for purchase, and they must be purchased from a FFL Dealer.

NYC: No person could have in their possession any BB guns, Pellet gun, airsoft gun or paint ball gun or any type of gun, "in which the propelling force is a spring or air." A license would be available only to those people who are selling these types of guns outside the country.
http://www.ocshooters.com/New-York-City-Gun.htm


New Jersey: f. "Firearm" means any handgun, rifle, shotgun, machine gun, automatic or semi-automatic rifle, or any gun, device or instrument in the nature of a weapon from which may be fired or ejected any solid projectable ball, slug, pellet, missile or bullet, or any gas, vapor or other noxious thing, by means of a cartridge or shell or by the action of an explosive or the igniting of flammable or explosive substances. It shall also include, without limitation, any firearm which is in the nature of an air gun, spring gun or pistol or other weapon of a similar nature in which the propelling force is a spring, elastic band, carbon dioxide, compressed or other gas or vapor, air or compressed air, or is ignited by compressed air, and ejecting a bullet or missile smaller than three-eighths of an inch in
diameter, with sufficient force to injure a person.

http://www.njguns.com/define.htm

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[Pavulon]

19. wow, those dumps dont count though

and I am sure like real firearms a cash donation to someone made by an attorney will "fix" that law for you.

[Euromutt]

25. "Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it so"

To quote the saying attributed to Lincoln. New York City and New Jersey could adopt laws declaring the dogs' tails were legs, and that would make it so for legal purposes in those jurisdictions, but in reality, the tails would still be tails.

By the same token, air guns, airsoft guns and paintball markers are not firearms, regardless of what New York city ordinances or New Jersey state law says.

[Callisto32]

28. The biggest problem with law.

"That word, it doesn't mean what you think it means."

[proteus_lives]

17. Typical overreaction.

[tburnsten]

22. What are the chances that it was an Airsoft pistol?

Which, technically could be described as a BB gun, since it does "fire" 6mm "BB"s, and many of them use air to propel the "BB"s, however, the BBs are very slow and are made of plastic.

Still would be against the rules to bring to school, which I get, but it would hardly be honestly described as a "weapon" except by the most ignorant of people.

[Callisto32]

29. Often, the very same people who want to ban an item are those most ignorant about it.

Remember "shoulder thing that goes up"?

[tburnsten]

30. How could I forget that display of asshattery?

[Callisto32]

27. This isn't passing the smell test.

In my admittedly limited experience, small children have a hyperdeveloped sense of "mine." That the kid would take the wrong pack is a little odd on its own. Combined with the fact that adult sized packs are significantly larger than those used by the average 8 year old...excuse alert.