Student suspended for having shotgun shells in her car!

Yet another wacky school district in our Nation. A High School student at Willow Canyon High School in Arizona named Kim Peters was suspended from school for having 2 cases of shotgun shells in her own vehicle while parked in a High School parking lot. The school administrators said that the shotgun shells could be classified as a "dangerous instrument"

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1029shoot1029.html

If it were not for the students who have been suspended for drawing pictures of guns or for having 1 inch plastic GI Joe guns in their pockets due to the so-called "zero tolerance" policy our schools currently have than I would say I'm surprised. Unfortunately, many school officials have already proven that they are not bright enough to tell the difference between a drawing of a gun and a real gun, so I'm not surprised that the school administrators of Willow Canyon High School can't tell the difference between a shotgun shell & a shotgun.

Get real folks, a shotgun shell is not a "dangerous instrument" - if it were, boxes of them would not be sold on the bottom shelf of the local Walmart & local sporting goods stores where kids could easily reach them. The difference is, the people who run Walmart & sporting goods stores are smart enough to tie their own shoes. These school officials should not be hired for anything more complicated than being the greeter at a local Walmart Supercenter. Why in the world are we trusting them with the education of our children?

You'll find contact info for the Willow Canyon High School administrators on their website. Please send them a FRIENDLY email & kindly explain to them what the difference is between a shotgun shell and an actual firearm. Willow Canyon High School is part of the Dysart Unified School District. Here is the Dysart Unified School District Board Member contact info.

1st Update: The exact wording of the definition of a dangerous instrument which was what they used to unfairly punish her don't even apply to the events. Exact wording of the definition from their own Student & Parent Handbook is:

Dangerous Instruments/Explosive Devices means anything that under the circumstances in which it is used, attempted to be used, or threatened to be used, is readily capable of causing physical injury.

Even if you were to ignore the fact that shotgun shells without a gun are not capable of causing physical injury, she did not use, attempt to use, or threaten to use her shotgun shells in any way. They were sitting in an unopened box in her own personal vehicle, an extension of her own home space. Additionally there is not a single mention of the word ammunition or shotgun shells in the entire handbook because it is NOT banned.

The High School officials were 100% wrong on this & they need to admit their mistake as well as delete this gross injustice from Kim's record. If they refuse to do it, than Kim will need to appeal to the school board & they had better recognize the facts or face upset voters at the next board election. In addition to setting her record straight they need to render disciplinary action against those who signed off on this gross injustice. Perhaps suspension without pay or even better - termination - due to lack of education.

2nd Update:

I understand one of the board members is going to request an agenda item to discuss the misinterpretation of the dangerous instrument policy at the next Dysart Board Meeting on Nov 14th. If anyone would like to speak either during the initial "call to the audience" or during the specific agenda item, be sure to show up BEFORE the meeting begins to fill out a "request to speak" form - only those who are on the audience speaker list will be granted an opportunity to speak during the board meeting.

The meeting will begin @ 6PM & is located in the board room in the Nathaniel Dysart Education Center located at 15802 N. Parkview Place, Surprise, AZ 85374

3rd Update: Also check out this story of a boy who was told he could not wear an NRA shirt. The NRA sued on basis of 1st Amendment freedom of speech infringement & won.