VA - 7th-grader suspended for playing with airsoft gun in own yard

[Zuri]

I didn't either (googling more everyday) so checked wiki. They are replica guns and look real. They are also being used by some LE and services for training:

Airsoft gun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Airsoft guns are replica firearms used in airsoft that fire plastic pellets by way of compressed gas or electric and/or spring-driven pistons. These guns are designed to be non-lethal and to provide realistic replicas.

Depending on the mechanism driving the pellet, an airsoft gun can be operated manually or cycled by either compressed gas such as Green Gas (propane and silicone mix) or CO2, or by compressed air via a spring or an electric motor pulling a piston.........

Airsoft in the past was used almost solely for recreational purposes, but in 2012 GBB airsoft technology became adopted by many federal and state institutions as an extremely affordable and reliable training tool. .........

Airsoft guns shoot plastic pellets at velocities from 30 m/s (98 ft/s) for a low-end spring pistol, to 200 m/s (660 ft/s) for heavily upgraded customized sniper rifles. Most non-upgraded AEGs are in the middle, producing velocities from 90 m/s (300 ft/s) to 120 m/s (390 ft/s)........

Thanks reader for posting this. So another kid could go blind if one of the pellets makes contact. The parents need detention along with the 7th grader instead of suspension. I really have trouble making sense out of any of this. JMO

 

[Zuri]

Airsoft, like paintball was meant to be recreational. Playing with it in his own front yard is NO BUSINESS OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.

IMO

Operative word: Playing. I was taught that guns aren't toys. JMO

 

[Reader]

Airsoft, like paintball was meant to be recreational. Playing with it in his own front yard is NO BUSINESS OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.

IMO

The thing is, he may have been in his yard but he was shooting at other kids at the bus stop or going to the bus stop, who were not in his yard.

 

[txsvicki]

I'm usually against school districts, but the kid needs to get get suspended for a few weeks, imo. A whole year seems outrageous unless he has been in trouble many times.

 

[Ladylub]

IMO I think it is stepping over boundaries. What would be next for the school to go after a child for if they live to close to the bus stop? What would they restrict a child from who lives near the bus stop whether they ride the bus or not? Do not like where that is headed.

Deal with it outside of school. If anything maybe a week or 2 in school suspension along with making them take gun safety classes.

Someone asked where the mother was.... She had left her oldest child in charge while she ran her younger kiddo to school.

 

[Sonya610]

I didn't either (googling more everyday) so checked wiki. They are replica guns and look real. They are also being used by some LE and services for training:

Airsoft guns are replica firearms used in airsoft that fire plastic pellets by way of compressed gas or electric and/or spring-driven pistons. These guns are designed to be non-lethal and to provide realistic replicas.

Yeah some look exactly like the real thing and some of the lasers and sites are marketed for real firearms OR airsoft guns because the specs are the same. Seems plenty of young men are big into it too and spending money on the fancy accessories. One of the guys in our IT department was telling me all about his Airsoft AR15 with add-ons, just like the real thing once they buy them they want to upgrade with all sorts of sites, lasers, tac lights, grips, etc...

Unlike a bb gun they are meant to fire at other players in mock battles (with eye protection and such so as not to cause real injury). If the kid was firing at non-players at a bus stop then yeah that would be a problem and he should be displined.

 

[Ladylub]

http://www.airrattle.com/Zombie-Hunter-Destroyer-Airsoft-Kit-p/2278000.htm


Is this like the one the boy was using?

 

[flourish]

How exactly does this gun policy work? The news story states that the school has zero-tolerance, for "possession, handling and use of firearm" including on private property. So if a parent wants to teach their kid how to shoot targets or skeet, that's grounds for expulsion? Teach them how to clean a hunting rifle? Really?

I don't at all disagree with them investigating the kid for shooting at people at a bus stop. But that's a separate thing than a gun policy, imo. That investigation shouldn't matter if it was an airsoft, a sling-shot or a bow and arrow. Or a pee-shooter (those things can hurt!).

By the way, he was using a safety net to catch the pellets and he denies shooting at the bus stop, only the kids he was playing with in his yard. What's weird to me is that it was the mother of one of the kids playing in his yard who called it in. Why not go over there and shut it down yourself??? Then talk to the kid's mom about the fact that kids are playing with airsofts in her yard when she's not home to supervise? I do not ever remember any of our parents calling 911 to do the discipline when I was growing up. SMH

I agree that would have been much less dramatic and appropriate. However, I can understand why a parent might hesitate, because some folks aren't too keen on non-parents disciplining their children.

Sent from my Event using Tapatalk 4

 

[JourneyRain]

I saw this on the news tonight as I live in VB. The thing that concerns me is that the kids will get sent to Renaissance Academy which is where they send all the kids who "act" up or get in trouble here and once you are in that school it's hard to get out despite what they say. I'm just concerned on how this could potentially affect their life.

 

[angela]

The thing is, he may have been in his yard but he was shooting at other kids at the bus stop or going to the bus stop, who were not in his yard.

If they shot at my child at the bus stop, I would have been 50 shades of ticked off. They should have known better.

 

[21merc7]

Wish we knew exactly what was going on here.

I do think this is a stretch of the zero tolerance policy. That was put into place to keep drugs, drug deals, and guns away from school zones. I don't know the exact footage around a school zone but there is exact footage, an example being 50 feet from a school, of course it may be more than 50 feet.

This policy was not intended to be about toys.

I do see that someone is upset that children are playing with gun type toys, toys that could cause harm, and if they were aiming the toy at someone outside the group that is a problem. The school zone is a non-issue if you ask me. It is about pointing and aiming at innocent bystanders. So, guess we will see how it plays out in Court.

 

[Trident]

Wish we knew exactly what was going on here.

I do think this is a stretch of the zero tolerance policy. That was put into place to keep drugs, drug deals, and guns away from school zones. I don't know the exact footage around a school zone but there is exact footage, an example being 50 feet from a school, of course it may be more than 50 feet.

This policy was not intended to be about toys.

I do see that someone is upset that children are playing with gun type toys, toys that could cause harm, and if they were aiming the toy at someone outside the group that is a problem. The school zone is a non-issue if you ask me. It is about pointing and aiming at innocent bystanders. So, guess we will see how it plays out in Court.

Since when has the school become the police? Is each and every student, everywhere, at all times, subject to the school rules? Is each and every bus stop their property? I'm seeing a lot of "odd" stuff here.

 

[CarolinaMoon]

From a former educator's perspective. The school district takes the status of "in loco parentis" (in place of the parents) custody from the time a child leaves the home until they arrive back home at the end of the day. They are responsible for the children as they wait for the bus and are responsible for their safety.

It's not as though these children waiting for the bus were part of the activity, they were victims waiting for something to happen with nowhere to hide. The parents of those boys are ultimately responsible for limiting soft-pellet gun activity. Those pellets, as has already been pointed out here, can do serious damage. The kids at the bus stop (and probably the kid with the gun) were not wearing safety goggles, nor were they playing in an appropriate location at an appropriate time.

 

[Trident]

From a former educator's perspective. The school district takes the status of "in loco parentis" (in place of the parents) custody from the time a child leaves the home until they arrive back home at the end of the day. They are responsible for the children as they wait for the bus and are responsible for their safety.

It's not as though these children waiting for the bus were part of the activity, they were victims waiting for something to happen with nowhere to hide. The parents of those boys are ultimately responsible for limiting soft-pellet gun activity. Those pellets, as has already been pointed out here, can do serious damage. The kids at the bus stop (and probably the kid with the gun) were not wearing safety goggles, nor were they playing in an appropriate location at an appropriate time.

So, is the school "in loco parentis" when a child is kidnapped on the way to school, or getting off a school bus? What about children who's lunchs are thrown away/assaulted/bullied by other students in the school? If they are going to pretend to be in place of parents, then they should be liable, big time, when they fail.

My opinion only

 

[PeggyAnnMcKay]

Airsoft, like paintball was meant to be recreational. Playing with it in his own front yard is NO BUSINESS OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.

IMO

I couldn't agree more. I was just teaching my kids yesterday about the Incas and their despotism. It's scary to think that a school district could be headed down that same path.

If we lived in that school district, all of my boys would be suspended since they all play Airsoft, target practice, shoot skeet, and hunt on our property. They have all completed gun safety classes, and we are an Army family.

 

[Linda7NJ]

About six years ago my now 15 year old son was out in the front of my house playing in the cul-de-sac with a few of his friends when a carload of teens will very real looking airsoft guns drove by in a car an opened fire.

The kids ran for cover, under parked cars, into my house, up trees... But not before a few had been hit. The welts were no joke, especially the one about 3/4 from my sons eye. Yes, I called the police. Damn straight! I was beyond furious!

Here's a few words of wisdom for those that think this is no big deal...

It's not fun unless everyone is having it!

 

[Trident]

About six years ago my now 15 year old son was out in the front of my house playing in the cul-de-sac with a few of his friends when a carload of teens will very real looking airsoft guns drove by in a car an opened fire.

The kids ran for cover, under parked cars, into my house, up trees... But not before a few had been hit. The welts were no joke, especially the one about 3/4 from my sons eye. Yes, I called the police. Damn straight! I was beyond furious!

Here's a few words of wisdom for those that think this is no big deal...

It's not fun unless everyone is having it!

At least you had sense enough to call the police, and not the school.

 

[Linda7NJ]

At least you had sense enough to call the police, and not the school.

Had it occurred the way the article states, I would have called them too! Had I of known their parents, they would have gotten an earful as well.

I'm telling you,.. My head was about to explode off my neck!

another comment:

The year before last, the homeschool co-op we just started had announced an air-soft event and my son wanted to go. Being new to the group and trusting these people ( Christian and all that jazz) I go out and plop down close to $100. On an airsoft gun. Thinking they would be target shooting or something. Her husband and another dad were heading it up.

We get to the woman's house, she has like 20 acres that borders a lake. It's 20 degrees outside. The kids were supposed to just run through the woods hiding & shooting each other. My kid lasted about 30 minutes before he decided it was incredibly stupid and wanted no part of it. He came inside where all of us moms were gathered, one or two even implied he was some sort of sissy! Roflmao! The others stayed outside all day long!

<modsnip>

 

[gxm]

If you read the School Board Chairman's letter (available on the news website), the kid featured in the news interview had a history of discipline problems (six suspensions in less than 18 months) involving increasingly aggressive behavior including harassing, bullying and fighting that resulted in injury. IMO, these kids were bullies and my sympathy lies with the children who were just trying to get to school and had to put up with this hostile "play." I side with the school on this one.

 

[gxm]

Airsoft, like paintball was meant to be recreational. Playing with it in his own front yard is NO BUSINESS OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.

IMO

As per the second 911 call on 9/12, the witness reported a boy with a gun chasing another boy in the street. As soon as those boys started shooting at kids on their way to school, it became the school's business.