Who knew a 2-inch toy army man could cause such a stir?
A fifth-grade promotion ceremony in Rancho Palos Verdes turned into a free-speech battleground Thursday, when students were asked to remove weapons from toys that had been placed on mortarboard caps because of the school's zero-tolerance policy for weapons on campus.
Each year, students decorate wide caps with princesses, football goal posts, zebras, guitars and other items to express their personalities and career goals. Cornerstone at Pedregal School is the only Palos Verdes Peninsula public school to practice the tradition.
On Thursday, before the ceremony, one boy was told he couldn't participate unless he agreed to clip off the tips of the plastic guns carried by the minuscule GIs on his cap. Ten others complied with the order before the event. . . .
In enforcing the decision, the district cited its Safe Schools policy and the federal Gun Free Schools Act of 1994, a federal law designed to remove firearms from schools.
Hear that sound? It's the world's smallest violence. (The Associated Press has a photo.) The best detail, though, is this:
The principal pulled Cole [McNamara, an 11-year-old student] aside Thursday morning, handed him a pair of scissors and said the guns had to go.
She handed him a sharp object? Wasn't she worried that he'd stab someone?
I do believe Taranto has hit the mail sqaurely on the head by highlighting the obvious disconnect the anti-gun and PC culture has in their inability to distinguish between a toy soldier and an actual weapon.
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