Zero Tolerance

Tiny Lego Gun Wielded by Kindergartner Panics Grown-Ups

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toy gun
Credit: ABC40

So a 6-year-old with a 2-inch-long plastic assault rifle walks onto a school bus. Anyone want to guess the punchline?

Yep. Widespread panic followed by detention.

It was initially reported that the panic happened on the bus itself, which was on its way to Old Mill Pond Elementary School in Massachusetts.

The New York Daily News told the tale this way

A Massachusetts kindergartner sparked panic on his school bus when he brought a plastic Lego gun — the size of a quarter — on board.

Fellow students freaked out on Friday after seeing the tiny fake firearm. They alerted the driver who brought the vehicle to a sudden halt.

The boy got hit with detention and was ordered to send letters of apology to affected students. His mom protested the harsh treatment in response to a gun that can only be operated by tiny yellow men with snap-on hair and the school investigated the incident a bit further.

lego man
Credit: Mechanekton / photo on flickr

As it turns out, the panic was exclusively reserved for the various adults and authority figures in the situation. 

Luckily, there was a security camera rolling on the bus and the footage told another story. Kids sit calmly on the bus until one child raises his hand to report the Lego gun. And that was pretty much it.

The 6-year-old's detention was revoked and everyone is chastened. For now. But this is the same elementary school that sent a 9-year-old kid into the juvenile court system for having an Airsoft toy gun in his jacket pocket earlier this month.