Cops bust 10-year-old for bringing toy gun to school

Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2013-02-06 15:43

Story here. Excerpt:

'A 10-year-old Alexandria boy was arrested after police said he brought a toy handgun to school on Tuesday, a day after he showed it to others on a school bus. The boy, a fifth-grader at Douglas MacArthur Elementary School whose name is not being released, was charged as a juvenile with brandishing a weapon, police said.

He was also suspended from school, and Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Morton Sherman said further action is being considered, including expulsion.

On Monday, the boy showed the plastic gun to at least one other student during a bus ride home from the school. The 10-year-old did not point it at anyone or threaten to shoot it, but he neglected to mention that the weapon was fake, said Alexandria police spokeswoman Ashley Hildebrandt.'

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Comments

... the concern should be more around real guns showing up on campus.

But if there was a school rule vs. bringing a toy gun to campus, sure, like any other rule it ought to have a punishment to go with it. Question is, does possession of a toy gun that was never even used to try to intimidate or harass anyone warrant arrest of a 10-YO and/or his expulsion from school? In an age where schools are powerless (apparently) to stop actual real-gun-wielding adults from going to schools and killing children, they instead arrest children with toy guns who haven't even tried to use them for play-acting (as unsavory as such may be). Reminds me of how people used to sacrifice fellow humans to the Volcano God every year in hopes that "the god" would be appeased and not erupt. The villagers couldn't control the volcano so to create a false sense of illusory control, they "sacrificed" an innocent. Looks like that's what schools are doing these days.

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Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2013-02-06 15:58

This is comparable to people who keep moving and burning energy so they look busy, while not accomplishing anything. Look how many government agencies are getting involved in this one incident. We have the school, the police, and an arrest which will lead to a court date and a public defender. All at taxpayers expense.

The courts may require an evaluation of the child and/or the parents, the "evaluator" will be contracted with the court (a nice set up they have). The evaluator will probably recommend some sort of counseling (why not? it's how they earn their living).

All of these people have a guaranteed income for their "services". This is what happens when government gets too big and each agency feeds off the other. I bet not one of them thinks they are over-reacting. Not one of these agencies has to report for their spending vs. results.

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Submitted by Kris on Wed, 2013-02-06 21:01