Well, there might be a few kids who are being ugly on purpose with the pretend gun, but really there ought to be a serious effort to make sure it isn’t consensual kids play before going off the deep end about it.
This supercilious over reaction is an attempt to control what people do and say. Out of fear of the ridiculous reaction people will err on the side of doing what they perceive the crazies want. At a Fortune 500 company I was nearly written-up for a lunchtime conversation with an amateur gun smith on concealed carry. The grounds were that the HR lady who overheard the conversation was offended and we’d signed a contract to never offend anybody. The VP who talked to me said, “I know guns aren’t specifically forbidden but use your head. Anything that isn’t politically correct is essentially forbidden speech.”
Also on the forbidden list, any joke and anything about religion or politics.
They certainly went off the deep end, insanely so. However, I suppose the idiots-in-charge were probably reacting to the fear of potential liability in the future. The Supreme Court has validated some horrendous liability laws governing the responsibility of teachers and administrators regarding bullying, etc. The least little thing can be twisted and result in financial and professional destruction. Also, as a warning to anyone, parents who chaperon student events can also incur the same liability.