Headlines from around the country after an Alabama school suspends a 1st-grader for making finger gun while playing cops and robbers.

Fox News, September 8, 2023

An outraged parent and gun rights groups are speaking out against an Alabama elementary school that suspended a first-grader, reportedly for making a finger gun.

Jerrod Belcher, whose six-year-old son J.B. attends Bagley Elementary School in Jefferson County, Alabama, says the school over-reacted to a game of “cops and robbers.” A notice of suspension shared with Fox News Digital states that Belcher’s son committed a “Class III” infraction on September 1 by “using his fingers to shoot at another student.” …

In a statement, Gun Owners of America Senior Vice President Erich Pratt said the incident demonstrates an “anti-gun mindset” that pervades many communities.

“This was a gross mishandling of a situation where children were simply being children. I imagine most men, young and old, hearing about this can recall having played in a similar fashion in their own youth,” said Pratt. “We will continue to demand action until a full apology is made and all disciplinary records tied to this incident are permanently destroyed.”

Read more at Fox News

The Epoch Times, September 8, 2023

It’s become a cliché that when a student breaks a rule, a teacher or administrator may threaten them with punishment that will remain on their “permanent record.” But for one Alabama 6-year-old, that threat seems plausible, and the child’s father is not having any of it.

“They labeled my six-year-old as a potentially violent and dangerous student because he was being a little boy and playing cops and robbers with another student (who was also suspended) and using his fingers like a gun,” Jarrod Belcher, the boy’s father, wrote in a statement released Friday, Sept. 8.

…

“This incident just goes to show how embedded the anti-gun mindset is in so many communities, including in red states like Alabama. I imagine most men … can recall having played in a similar fashion in their own youth,” Erich Pratt, GOA senior vice president, wrote in a statement released Sept. 8. “We will continue to demand action until a full apology is made and all disciplinary records tied to this incident are permanently destroyed.”

Read more at The Epoch Times

The Daily Caller, September 8, 2023

Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, said the incident was indicative of an “anti-gun mindset” in even Republican states.

“This was a gross mishandling of a situation where children were simply being children. I imagine most men, young and old, hearing about this can recall having played in a similar fashion in their own youth. We will continue to demand action until a full apology is made and all disciplinary records tied to this incident are permanently destroyed.”

Read more at Daily Caller