Toy guns and Utah schools don't mix

For most districts, the school year is a little more than a month old. But already the suspensions are starting to add up for students accused of bringing weapons or facsimiles of weapons to school.

Officials with the Jordan School District are now pleading with parents to talk to their children about the severe consequences of taking something that even resembles a gun onto school grounds or to a school-sponsored event.

Already this year, the Jordan District has suspended five students for weapons violations. Two of those violations were for knives and three were for toy guns. Most recently, a fifth-grade student from West Jordan was suspended after bringing a toy gun on a school bus.

The school district could not talk specifically about any of the cases.

Whether or not the guns are real, federal law requires the district to suspend those students for 180 days, or the entire school year, Jordan District spokesman Mike Kelley said.

Those students have the option of appealing their suspensions, at which point the Jordan Board of Education will make a final decision on the length of the suspensions, Kelley said.

The biggest problem for the Jordan District has been the growing popularity of Airsoft guns. Billed as an alternative to BB guns, Airsoft guns shoot plastic projectiles.

"They're designed to look just like a real gun," Kelley said. "Police officers are very concerned because a kid pulls one out in a classroom, who knows if it's real or not?"

West Jordan Police Capt. Gary Cox said the department is seeing a sharp rise in the number of calls of juveniles allegedly walking down the street with guns only to find out later it was an Airsoft gun.

"They're made to look more and more like real firearms," he said. "It's not an issue as far as the danger of the gun itself."

Dr. Susan Chilton, director of Student Intervention Services with the Jordan District, said her office is pushing hard to spread the word about how bringing even a toy gun to school could result in severe penalties for the student no matter how innocent the intentions.

"It's really important that parents understand what the ramifications could be," she said. "We're particularly concerned about facsimile weapons. They are unnervingly real on how they appear. ... Intent is not how the law defines what the action (such as suspending a student) is about. It's about putting others at risk."

Chilton said one of the district's biggest fears is that a toy gun will result in a student being shot by a police officer because the gun appeared real.

"Everyone should have the opportunity to come to school and feel safe, including the student who owns an Airsoft gun," she said.