Back in the 1960’s ( in Pa_) I walked to school every morning and checked my trap lines. I shot all the varmints I caught, dropped them off at my Gramma’s house and proceeded onto the school grounds. I immediately went to the teacher’s lounge and said “Mr. Greer, here’s my pistol.” He said OK and checked to make sure it was clear. He put it in his desk drawer, and nothing was EVER thought about it. At the end of classes I retrieved it and went about gathering my previous catch, checking my traps on the way home, and never once thought about going Muslim. AND...I was bullied, because my brother was an a...hole and I smelled like skunk (or fox) (or mink) piss.
You didn’t trust your Gramma with the pistol?
I went to school with my .22 rifle so’s I could go shooting after school. The teacher stood it in the corner by her desk ‘til school let out and off I went. No one thought anything of it. And that was in Mass.
I lived too close to Philly to see that as a kid, but my friends where I live now tell the same kind of stories. Even where I lived growing up you could bring a knife to school and have it on you all day long. Different values back then. If you dared pull a knife on someone you were labeled a pussy, called a fag and more than likely thrown down a a stairwell.