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Boy punished for air soft guns in yard

Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

MaggieD said:
Really? Well, maybe I don't understand what an airsoft gun is. I understand it shoots plastic pellets using compressed air. If you hit someone in the eye with one, can you blind them? If you can, then it has no business EVER being aimed at a human being. Nor being shot anywhere someone could accidentally get hit with it.

Sometimes I think I'm in the Twilight Zone.
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Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

Wiseone said:
Maybe I'm missing something but it seems obvious to me that Maggie is speaking as a mother and talking about rules she'd place on her kids, not as a citizen proposing we ban or otherwise control these kind of toys with laws.
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True enough, and that is what I read also...However, this case the school took action I think outside their jurisdiction.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

Zyphlin said:
Part of me can't stand these zero tolerance polices...part of me can't blame school administrations for them when our sue happy, "it's always the authorities fault", society caused them to come into existance by raising hell anytime a school administrator made a decision that someone felt was unfair about their "special little snowflake".
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That certainly is a problem, too.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

MaggieD said:
Really? Well, maybe I don't understand what an airsoft gun is. I understand it shoots plastic pellets using compressed air. If you hit someone in the eye with one, can you blind them? If you can, then it has no business EVER being aimed at a human being. Nor being shot anywhere someone could accidentally get hit with it.

Sometimes I think I'm in the Twilight Zone.
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Ok I'm not saying it's ok to point at a human. I thought you were saying it was a problem they were playing with it in the front yard. Granted when I was a kid we used to have airsoft fights all the time, granted we wore protective clothing and eyewear.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

MaggieD said:
Really? Well, maybe I don't understand what an airsoft gun is. I understand it shoots plastic pellets using compressed air. If you hit someone in the eye with one, can you blind them? If you can, then it has no business EVER being aimed at a human being. Nor being shot anywhere someone could accidentally get hit with it.

Sometimes I think I'm in the Twilight Zone.
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No, you're not in the twilight zone. My issue with this story is the firearms offense charge. When I was a kid, I shot a chinaberry in a slingshot, across the street, and hit a neighbor girl in the eye with it. I wasn't aiming at anything- just being a stupid kid. I don't think that slingshots should be considered firearms because kids can do stupid stuff with them. I think common sense is lacking. The kids in the original story need good parenting, and not legal charges.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

I wouldn't have a problem with my child being in the front yard shooting at a zombie target with an airsoft gun. The moment it was aimed at another child is where I would draw the line. Still not a school issue though.

MaggieD said:
Really? Well, maybe I don't understand what an airsoft gun is. I understand it shoots plastic pellets using compressed air. If you hit someone in the eye with one, can you blind them? If you can, then it has no business EVER being aimed at a human being. Nor being shot anywhere someone could accidentally get hit with it.

Sometimes I think I'm in the Twilight Zone.
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Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

CRUE CAB said:
Air guns in many states are now considered firearms by definition.
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According to wiki:
Sale and possession of air guns are not regulated federally, nor are they regulated by most state and local governments. A few States and municipalities which do restrict or prohibit air gun sales or possession in some manner are San Francisco, New York City, Camden, New Jersey and Newark, New Jersey. Johnson City, Tennessee; Massachusetts, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the States of Illinois, Michigan[31] and California. Additionally, ordinances in many cities prohibit the discharge of air guns outdoors outside of an approved range.

Some states, such as Virginia, classify a pellet gun or BB gun as a firearm. In Virginia, certain case law has determined that, during certain criminal conduct, air guns are firearms.

Air guns were banned in San Francisco, but a state preemption statute struck down the ban, and the San Francisco District Attorney declared them legal as long as in compliance with state law.[32]

Since I collect old German air rifles, I'm most definitely not moving to Virginia.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

lizzie said:
No, you're not in the twilight zone. My issue with this story is the firearms offense charge. When I was a kid, I shot a chinaberry in a slingshot, across the street, and hit a neighbor girl in the eye with it. I wasn't aiming at anything- just being a stupid kid. I don't think that slingshots should be considered firearms because kids can do stupid stuff with them. I think common sense is lacking. The kids in the original story need good parenting, and not legal charges.
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I agree. A firearms charge is ridiculous. So many times I'm answering (as someone here pointed out) what I'd do or think as a parent in a situation like this. This parent, instead of saying, "Yeah, my kid had no business shooting where he might hit another kid," says "It's unfair!" Jesus H. Christ.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

Chaddelamancha said:
I wouldn't have a problem with my child being in the front yard shooting at a zombie target with an airsoft gun. The moment it was aimed at another child is where I would draw the line. Still not a school issue though.
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I have no problem with that. If it's not a school issue, it's law enforcement's issue. Which would YOU rather? He was shooting right around the school bus stop. (Second time, by the way.) If my kid had to go to the ER because he got hit in the eye by a plastic pellet while waiting for the school bus -- by a kid waiting for the school bus -- I'd have no problem at all with the school stepping in.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

I thought the article said he was 70 yards from the stop? That seems like a reasonable distance to me. If my kid gets hit in the eye while waiting for the school bus, that is still an issue between me and the other parent. But I can see what you mean. I guess I would have to have a better visual of the bus stop to make a more accurate decision.

MaggieD said:
I have no problem with that. If it's not a school issue, it's law enforcement's issue. Which would YOU rather? He was shooting right around the school bus stop. (Second time, by the way.) If my kid had to go to the ER because he got hit in the eye by a plastic pellet while waiting for the school bus -- by a kid waiting for the school bus -- I'd have no problem at all with the school stepping in.
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Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

Montecresto said:
I can't wait to see this defended. It seems zero tolerance should be for the real thing. Boys have been known to show up with real guns in back packs. No tolerance for that is appropriate.


VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - A seventh grade Virginia Beach student previously suspended for shooting an airsoft gun has been expelled, WAVY.com has learned.

During a hearing Tuesday morning, Aidan Clark was expelled in a unanimous vote. The fate of Khalid Caraballo remains unknown at this time.

Like thousands of others in Hampton Roads, Khalid Caraballo plays with airsoft guns. Caraballo and his friend Aidan were suspended because they shot two other friends who were with them while playing with the guns as they waited for the school bus.

The two seventh graders say they never went to the bus stop; they fired the airsoft guns while on Caraballo's private property.

Aidan’s father, Tim Clark, told WAVY.com what happened next lacks commons sense. The children were suspended for possession, handling and use of a firearm.


WAVY - Has zero tolerance gone too far | WAVY.com | Virginia Beach
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Forgive me here. Perhaps my knowledge of the insane anti-logic behind the average petty bureaucrat's thought processes is fundamentally lacking in some regard, or it might simply be the case that I am ignorant of the inane laws which make their flagrant abuses of undeserved power possible.

However, could someone kindly explain to me how in the Hell a school gets away with expelling a person for something done on their own private property? wtf.gif

It makes absolutely no legal or practical sense whatsoever.

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It's at times like these I thank God I was homeschooled. Is it any wonder that my generation turns out so many clueless big government worshipping sheep when this is the kind of behavior they were raised to expect from people in positions of authority? :roll:
 
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Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

MaggieD said:
Really? Well, maybe I don't understand what an airsoft gun is. I understand it shoots plastic pellets using compressed air. If you hit someone in the eye with one, can you blind them? If you can, then it has no business EVER being aimed at a human being. Nor being shot anywhere someone could accidentally get hit with it.

Sometimes I think I'm in the Twilight Zone.
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Could you blind them? I seriously doubt it. It could probably cause some soft tissue injury or swelling, but I would be surprised if it could actually blind a person.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

MaggieD said:
Really? Well, maybe I don't understand what an airsoft gun is. I understand it shoots plastic pellets using compressed air. If you hit someone in the eye with one, can you blind them? If you can, then it has no business EVER being aimed at a human being. Nor being shot anywhere someone could accidentally get hit with it.

Sometimes I think I'm in the Twilight Zone.
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It's basically like a paintball gun. It can be dangerous if used improperly, but is generally harmless so long as the proper safety precautions are taken.

Masks, or some other form of eye protection, are generally required if you're going to play on any kind of professional course.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

And so the point here is getting expelled for the rest of the school year on a firearms charge. Yet what keeps being discussed is whether or not children should have and use an airsoft.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

mike2810 said:
Have parents and administrators lost their minds? This is getting out of control. Thank God my kid is grown up.

I can remember growing up playing war games, dodge ball, king of the hill, etc. Sometimes someone brought a sling shot to school for show and tell.

Guess super soakers are out of the question for school also:mrgreen:

Parents should teach there kids what is play and what is real when it comes to life.

I think I long for the 50's and 60's for kids today as far as growing up.
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I am glad I don't live there anymore. I bought my kid a nerf gun that shoots small projectiles. He would be jailed for shooting that.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

CRUE CAB said:
Remember the movie Thunderbolt and Lightfoot? Kinda like that.
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I was thinking Bewitched. Mrs. Cravitz
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

Montecresto said:
I can't wait to see this defended. It seems zero tolerance should be for the real thing. Boys have been known to show up with real guns in back packs. No tolerance for that is appropriate.


VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - A seventh grade Virginia Beach student previously suspended for shooting an airsoft gun has been expelled, WAVY.com has learned.

During a hearing Tuesday morning, Aidan Clark was expelled in a unanimous vote. The fate of Khalid Caraballo remains unknown at this time.

Like thousands of others in Hampton Roads, Khalid Caraballo plays with airsoft guns. Caraballo and his friend Aidan were suspended because they shot two other friends who were with them while playing with the guns as they waited for the school bus.

The two seventh graders say they never went to the bus stop; they fired the airsoft guns while on Caraballo's private property.

Aidan’s father, Tim Clark, told WAVY.com what happened next lacks commons sense. The children were suspended for possession, handling and use of a firearm.


WAVY - Has zero tolerance gone too far | WAVY.com | Virginia Beach
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Gun control freaks could never be accused of intelligent approaches to reality.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

The castration of the nation is almost complete.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

mike2810 said:
Have parents and administrators lost their minds? This is getting out of control. Thank God my kid is grown up.

I can remember growing up playing war games, dodge ball, king of the hill, etc. Sometimes someone brought a sling shot to school for show and tell.

Guess super soakers are out of the question for school also:mrgreen:

Parents should teach there kids what is play and what is real when it comes to life.

I think I long for the 50's and 60's for kids today as far as growing up.
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My school days started in 1940. Then and later, when I was in 7th grade up, it was not unusual for a 12 year old to bring a shotgun to school such that they could go hunting immediately after getting out of class. I can remember setting up my schedule such that my last class ended at 2PM giving my friends and I an extra hour of daylight to hunt.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

IMO, this is not a school issue. Some bad parenting, possibly, but not a school issue.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

Gathomas88 said:
It's basically like a paintball gun. It can be dangerous if used improperly, but is generally harmless so long as the proper safety precautions are taken.

Masks, or some other form of eye protection, are generally required if you're going to play on any kind of professional course.
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I wouldn't let my kid play with paint ball guns in the front yard. They cause too much damage.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

MaggieD said:
It's all innocent fun until somebody puts an eye out.
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Or until Big Government takes your rights away in the name of "safety and security"
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

Tucker Case said:
IMO, this is not a school issue. Some bad parenting, possibly, but not a school issue.
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Why bad parenting? Do you remember pop guns? Usually a section of elderberry which is hollow, with a plunger carved from a piece of old broom or mop handle such that it barely fit smoothly into the hollow and about 1/2 inch shorter than the tubular section. We would place a china berry into the tube and push it through until it was near the exit end; then inserting another china berry pushing it through too. The result was compressed air and the first china berry would shoot out making a nice popping sound.
 
Re: Boy expelled for air soft guns in yard

MaggieD said:
One of the links I read said that, even though one boy was running away, he was hit. That's unacceptable. As is playing with it in the front yard -- which is an assumption I'm making that's probably correct.
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Look, at most they should be punished for not following common sense safety procedures, if in fact they weren't wearing any eye gear. This hubbub about being a firearm is total horse****. From the story it appeared they were horsing around, and maybe they should have.....but suspension, REALLY? No doubt that'll teach'em. :roll:
 
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