ZERO TOLERANCE FOR KIDS: NOT IN AUSTRALIA

I guess almost all readers of this blog will be aware of the hysterical responses American schools undergo if a schoolkid is found in possession of anything like a gun. It is rather accurately called "zero tolerance". If any readers are not aware of how insane American schools are over such matters, there are some examples here. There is also a blog which records such happenings and Taranto often records them too.

By contrast note how much more kindly an Australian school student was treated when he caused a scare by having a toy gun:

"A teenager who sparked a gun scare at his high school sat patiently in a classroom as the drama unfolded, unaware he was the person police were scouring the school for. The school, north of Brisbane, went into lockdown late yesterday morning after the boy was seen entering school grounds with what appeared to be a gun... A police spokesman said it appeared charges would not be laid against the boy with the toy gun. "He was going to the school to pick up some school work and had bought the toy as part of a Halloween costume," he said. "He was taking part in the lockdown. He didn't even realise it was a result of his actions."

More here





They make up the law as they go along: "A [Nashua, NH] man was indicted earlier this year for a crime that does not exist, a judge has ruled. Timothy Geddes, 23, formerly of 3 1/2 Pleasant St., had been charged with selling a pistol to another person 'without being licensed to do so.' Geddes was indicted on the charge Jan. 22, but Hillsborough County Superior Court Chief Justice Robert Lynn dismissed the case Sept. 28. Lynn ruled that there is no such crime, and state law does not require a gun owner to have a license in order to sell a firearm to another person."




Gun owners are nuts? "Consider one person who stated, as though everybody knew, that 'People who carry guns are macho, people who need to abuse power.' Then, without skipping a beat, he said, '... except for the people I know who carry guns; those are really nice people who are responsible about it, and in fact, very low key.' So, we asked, 'Why don't you believe your own personal experience then?' We just got a shrug."