At first, I thought this must be a gag story from The Onion, but a school in Arizona actually suspended an eighth-grade boy for five days (in a fit of generosity, later reduced to three days) for drawing a picture of a gun. It is not clear, though, whether the school’s absurd policy also means students are not allowed to do term papers about World War II, since that might necessitate discussion of weapons and violence:

An East Valley eighth-grader was suspended this week after he turned in homework with a sketch that school officials said resembled a gun… But parents of the 13-year-old, who attends Payne Junior High School in the Chandler Unified School District, said the drawing was a harmless doodle of a fake laser, and school officials overreacted. …Payne Junior High officials did not allow the Tribune to view the drawing. The Mostellers said the drawing did not depict blood, injuries, bullets or any human targets. They said it was just a drawing that resembled a gun. …The boy said…he was just drawing because he finished an assignment early.