Remember a few days ago, when I was bitching about the moronic case of the nine-year-old arrested for waving a toy gun in public? His mom was charged, too, when all she was trying to do, allegedly, was beg the police to let her "delinquent" son off with a warning.
Devoted Reader Nick pointed out a little inconsistency in the approach our police take towards citizens with toy guns. Kids, who probably have no idea what they did wrong, get arrested. Adults who wander into a congressional office building with toy guns as part of their costumes, however, get let off the hook:
The House of Representatives shut down Thursday following a reported security breach at a nearby congressional office building, but police later determined that a plastic revolver and Halloween costume were to blame and lawmakers went back in session.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said "two staff members bringing in Halloween costumes" were responsible. "I don't think they had any ill intent," he said, adding he expected no charges to be filed.
Bear in mind, the staff had been chatting with the two aides for a while before the gun showed up on the x-ray machine. Good thing it wasn't a real gun, eh?
Now, perhaps U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer, he of good judgement, could wander over and explain to Lorain Officer Joe Novosielski (the guy who arrested the nine-year-old) the concept of toy guns, and the fact that people who own them rarely show "ill intent."
A nine-year-old with a toy gun gets charged with "juvenile delinquency by reason of inducing panic," while two absent-minded aides, whose actions resulted in the House of Representatives being shut down, face no charges.
Is anyone else out there starting to feel like our society is deliberately trying to make life miserable for kids, while letting adults off the hook?
Update: Fellow blogger Daryl C provides yet more data to support this theory - "Principal Accused of Pointing Toy Gun":
A middle school principal who a parent says pointed a toy gun at a seventh-grader was reassigned to a desk job Thursday while school district officials investigate the complaint.
Okeeheelee Middle School Principal David Samore pulled two toy guns from his desk drawer Tuesday and put what appeared to be a black revolver to the neck of a 13-year-old, according to boy's mother, Felicia Vickers.
She said her son was called to the principal's office because someone accused him of bringing a gun on campus. Officials searched the seventh-grader and his locker but didn't find anything, Vickers said.
Samore was in his office with three other staff members, including a campus police officer, when he pointed the gun at her son, Vickers said.
"The principal said something to the effect of, 'What does it feel like? Does it feel real?' " Vickers said her son told school police Wednesday.
"I was really disturbed, for him to use his authority to intimidate children like that," she said.
I really don't blame her. Principal Samore appears to be using the "tough love" defense here, but given that the kid was sent to the principal's office on completely false charges of having a gun, why did the principal decide to use a gun - even a toy one - to scare him? No gun was found on the kid.
So, to recap: Nine-year-old waving toy gun around - gets arrested. Congressional aides bring toy guns into office building - no punishment. Principal deliberately uses toy gun to frighten wits out of a boy falsely accused of having a gun - gets reassignment to a desk job. He hasn't been fired, nor arrested - just told to sit somewhere else for a while.
You can read parental comments about the school here. At least one parent claims that kids must carry clear backpacks and cannot even use lockers, because "gangs and fights are out of control." And the principal's solution is to use a toy gun to frighten a kid who hadn't done anything wrong?
Posted by kswygert at October 30, 2003 09:19 PM