Congressman introduces bill to defund schools that punish kids for chewing pastries into gun shapes

(Image credit: flickrnumi/Flickr)

Congressman Steve Stockman (R-Texas) has introduced a bill called the “Student Protection Act” which would withdraw federal funding from any public school that punishes children for brandishing pastries chewed into the shape of a gun, playing with imaginary weapons, drawing guns and more.

Stockman’s legislation, H.R. 2625, also called “a bill to protect the rights of children,” comes in response to several nonsensical incidents where students were punished for everything from imaginary grenades and gunshots to bubble guns.

The bill specifically brings up at least one of the above cases as well as the troubling case of the three-year-old deaf boy who was pressured by a school to change his name because when signed it resembles a gun, thus violating their weapons policy.

The legislation is also clearly specifically designed to discourage incidents like the one resulting from a child who chewed a pop-tart into the shape of a gun or the young man who wore a t-shirt to school that showed his support of the Second Amendment.

The eight-grader who wore a pro National Rifle Association t-shirt had the charges against him dropped in late June.

The bill would block all federal funding to schools that punish students for any of the following actions:

1. Brandishing a pastry or other food which is partially consumed in such a way that the remnant resembles a gun;
2. Possession of a toy gun which is two inches or less;
3. Possession of a toy gun made of plastic snap together building blocks;
4. Using a finger or hand to simulate a gun;
5. Vocalizing imaginary firearms or munitions;
6. Wearing a T-shirt that supports Second Amendment rights;
7. Drawing a picture of, or possessing an image of, a firearm; or
8. Using a pencil, pen or other writing utensil to simulate a firearm.

“So-called ‘zero-tolerance’ weapons policies in federally funded schools are being used to outlaw harmless expressions of childhood play,” the bill states.

“Why are taxpayer dollars being spent to subsidize this insanity?” Stockman asked.

Indeed, as some of the aforementioned cases show, what is nothing more than children being children has now become a punishable offense in many public schools.

The bill goes on to state that the “zero-tolerance” weapons policies in public schools which rely on federal funds are “being used to teach children to be afraid of inanimate objects that are shaped like guns.”

“This government-sanctioned political correctness is traumatizing children and spreading irrational fear,” Stockman states in his bill.

If a school punishes students for the aforementioned offenses, the bill would ensure that “no funds appropriated pursuant to any provisions of law may be used” by that educational institution.

Stockman seeks to have the bill take effect immediately upon passage, according to Courthouse News Service.

“Something must be done to restore sanity to the schoolroom,” Stockman stated earlier this month. “The Student Protection Act would end the practice of using federal taxpayer dollars to subsidize schools that enforce these policies that abuse and harm young children.”