Kindergartner booted over toy gun

A kindergarten student with a toy gun in Tennessee has been lumped together with a high schooler who allegedly assaulted a classmate, a fifth-grader who was accused of writing a "hit list" of potential victims and another high schooler who brought a loaded gun clip to school – and all have been expelled.

According to the Knoxville News-Sentinel, the kindergartner was among eight students expelled after he broke school rules with a toy weapon.

"We take all these incidents very seriously," said V.L. Stonecipher, a school official. "Our code of conduct clearly spells out unacceptable behavior and the consequences."

The offending toy weapon violated the school's zero-tolerance rules and resulted in a mandatory year-long suspension, the report said.

The report did not reveal the name of the Andersonville Elementary School kindergarten student, who brought a toy gun in his backpack on a Thursday, and was expelled on Friday.

"There's no tolerance for kids with weapons of any kind," school spokeswoman Karen Bridgeman told the newspaper.

Other expulsions were triggered by a written threat to shoot a school principal, a written "hit list," a belt buckle with a pair of brass knuckles, a loaded gun clip, a student carrying a drug, and an alleged assault on a classmate, the report said.

"Expelling a kindergarten student for a toy gun is insane," wrote one participant in the newspaper's forum page. "No toy gun of today hardly even resembles a real one."

"We live in a sad time as far as violence in schools is concerned," said another. "Expelling a kindergarten age child for a toy gun takes the rag off the bush though."

The issue got the attention of Terry Frank, whose radio broadcasts are heard across the region.

"Until every parent either homeschools, demands vouchers, or places their children in private schools, you're going to continue to see this kind of utter foolishness and insanity," she wrote.

"As this young kindergartner was being expelled, my own little third grader was carrying his wooden rifle replica to his class project as part of his re-enactment of Daniel Boone," she continued. "Had he appeared at one of our bureaucratic institutions, he would have needed to convert Daniel Boone's gun to ploughshares."

"Let a kid bring a harmless piece of plastic and it's on!!" wrote a contributor on Frank's comment page.

As WND recently reported, the Young Conservatives of Texas branch at the Houston-area Lone Star College-Tomball were censored and threatened with campus-wide de-recognition for passing out a humorous pamphlet with gun jokes at a campus fair.

The dispute is being addressed by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE, which has written college officials reminding them of the college's constitutional obligation to respect the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and to acknowledge the flyer's contents are protected speech.

"Distributing a joke-filled top-ten list at a student activities fair is a creative way for a student group to educate its peers about itself," said Greg Lukianoff, the president of FIRE.

The case developed at the school's recent "club rush" when the Young Conservatives started handing out their list of "Top Ten Gun Safety Tips."

The tongue-in-cheek recommendations included:

Always keep your gun pointed in a safe direction, such as at a hippy or a communist.
No matter how responsible he seems, never give your gun to a monkey.
Don't load your gun unless you are ready to shoot something or are just feeling generally angry.
If your gun misfires, never look down the barrel to inspect it.
Never use your gun to pistol whip someone. That could mar the finish.
No matter how excited you are about buying your first gun, do not run around yelling "I have a gun! I have a gun!"

The flyer then invited students to an informational meeting the following week.

WND previously reported several other cases, including a shirt with a gun image banished from a school campus, a student who faced discipline for having a pen that carried the logo of a gun company, a student suspended for advocating for gun rights, and a student suspended for a sketch of a gun.