Texas Republican Rep. Steve Stockman, known for his odd tweets and gun giveaways , is introducing legislation to defund schools that ban children from playing with imaginary guns.
The bill, labeled as the Student Protection Act, would punish federally funded schools that "outlaw harmless expressions of childhood play." Stockman cites several incidents where children were suspended or given detention for playing with imaginary weapons. One of the incidents involved a seven-year-old boy who was suspended for throwing an imaginary hand grenade on the playground because of the school's rule: "No weapons, real or play."
Stockman also notes an incident from last August where a deaf child was asked to change the way he signs his name because the gesture resembles a gun. The school district denied the report.
Stockman writes in the bill, "This government-sanctioned political correctness is traumatizing children and spreading irrational fear."
The legislation also includes language to protect children who wear t-shirts supporting Second Amendment rights. Schools would also lose funding if they stopped students from drawing images of firearms, creating guns out of Legos, and possessing toy guns smaller than two inches.