Stupidity Virus Strikes In Big Sky Country

M-Lib Note: Not sure where this comes from originally, but the news story is legitimate.

June 2, 2004

Good grief. It appears a national epidemic has broken out in recent weeks. But when this kind of anti-gun paranoia nonsense hits in MONTANA, you know we REALLY have a big problem.

Here's the latest: An 11-year-old kid finds an unloaded .22-caliber pistol with a part missing which rendered the gun inoperable. Not knowing what to do with it, he took it to his school principal's office and turned it in. The principal then turned kid in...to the cops.

The Havre Daily News (http://www.havredailynews.com/articles/2004/06/01/local_headlines/student.txt) reported on Tuesday that "police responded at 8:51 a.m. and took the juvenile to the police station for questioning...(where he was) issued a summons on a charge of possessing a weapon in a school building." The paper says the local police chief maintains the grade-school kid should have taken the gun to the police station rather than the principal's office.

What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here? Do any government bureaucrats anywhere in the country possess any level of common sense any more? And has anybody else noticed that whenever extreme examples of adult stupidity occur, it's usually in a government-run school? Is that cause...or effect?

I attempted to reach Principal Linda Kaze this afternoon; however, I was informed that she was tied up conducting various end-of-year award ceremonies all day...ceremonies which, by the way, the young lad in question is NOT a part of. All the adult powers-that-be agreed that the boy shouldn't attend the final two days of the school year (but at least he wasn't "officially" suspended!).

I also tried to reach School Superintendent Kirk Miller, who was referenced in the Daily News story, but he was "in a meeting." However, the person answering the phone did verify that what was reported in the paper accurately reflected what actually happened and seemed surprised that I was so upset about it. Go figure.

I'm sure Principal Kaze and Dr. Miller have perfectly logical explanations for how and why this whole thing was handled. I can hardly wait to hear them...

BRUSHFIRE ALERT: Principal's Name: Linda Kaze. Principal's email address: kazel@ss.havre.k12.mt.us. Ms. Kaze's phone number is: (406) 265-9671. Dr. Miller's phone number: (406) 265-4356.

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