While American schools have good reason to want to crack down on possible weaponry being carried by students, the ridiculous policies in place seem to target innocent children more and more.
 
The latest child to fall foul of these rules is a 13-year-old boy from Indiana, who was suspended for five days for owning a laser pointer.
 
A parent was picking up their child after school, when they spotted the boy playing with something in the school’s car park. They reported the boy to the police, saying he had a gun.
 
The next day police arrived to search his locker, but didn’t find anything. Talking to his mum however the police discovered that though he never had anything like a gun, he did have a laser pointer.
 
Captain Mike Kellems from the local LaPorte County police explained that they consider a laser pointer a dangerous weapon, even if it’s not shaped like a gun.
 
 “They are very dangerous in and of themselves, but anytime you have anything that looks like a firearm it’s obviously a danger and would be considered a credible threat,” he said.
 
"Lasers aren't made to be toys,” the Captain stated. “It's unfortunate they're kind of marketed as a toy or a gimmick but they're not meant to be toys.”
 
The police decided not to press charges, but asked the school to deal with the situation. The school rules prohibit having not just guns, but anything that could be potentially mistaken for a gun. Like a laser pointer, apparently.
 
The school suspended the 13-year-old boy for five days, and suspended the friend who gave him the laser pointer for three days.
 
These are not the first kids to find themselves in trouble from these gun laws. In March a nine-year-old boy was suspended for pointing his finger “like a gun”, and last year a seven-year-old was suspended for biting a pop-tart so that it looked a bit gun shaped.

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