Earlier Suspended from School for Shaping Pop Tart Into Gun, 8-Yr Old US Maryland Boy Receives Lifetime NRA Membership
But Boy Knows He is Being Used
Josh Welch, an 8-year-old who got suspended from school for nibbling and shaping his Pop Tart pastry snack into a gun, has just been given a lifetime junior membership by the National Rifle Association (NRA). But for a child with ADHD, just what will he do with a lifetime gun membership?
Nicholaus Kipke, leader of the Republican minority in the lower house of the Maryland legislature, was the one responsible for the $550 worth NRA Junior Life Membership.
"I was embarrassed that my county would do that to him," Mr Kipke said, who presented the gift to the second-grader on Wednesday night during a fundraiser for Anne Arundel County Republicans.
In March, the young Josh got slapped with a 2-day suspension by the Park Elementary School because he shaped a pastry into the shape of a gun and then later said, "Bang, bang." The school, in its letter distributed to parents, explained the incident was "an inappropriate gesture."
Josh's parents are coordinating with lawyers to remove the 2-day suspension from their son's school record. However, the school remains glued to its zero tolerance gun policy.
The school also offered counseling to any children who were traumatised by the incident.
Boy Knows He is Being Used
In true tongue-in-cheek presentation and after a standing ovation, Josh just handed to his parents the NRA certificate and resumed playing games on a cellphone.
"Everyone keeps asking me why I did it," the bright boy told the Baltimore Sun. "I don't know why I did it. ... I wish people would stop asking me about it. It'll probably go on for 45 years or something."
Although he doesn't have an idea what NRA is and what it does on the face of the Earth, more so what his lifetime gun membership meant, he sure was still proud to have been afforded one.
When asked if anyone else in the family has an NRA membership, "nope, only me," he said.
The NRA membership gift, according to Robin Ficker, the boy's lawyer, was a great idea for the boy.
"Josh is a good kid, though a little rambunctious... The membership would teach him proper handling of firearms," he said.
What the?