Yesterday The Gateway Pundit posted an article about an incident at Jackson Elementary School in Everett, Washington.

The article reports:

…Riley Malone was talking with one of his classmates this past May. They got on the subject of guns, and Riley mentioned that he had a .22 bolt action rifle and that he occasionally goes to the gun range with his parents. The other boy thought it would be cool to try shooting some time. That was the end of the conversation. Or so they thought.

Another student overheard the talk about guns and shooting ranges, and she told her parents about it. In turn, her parents notified the school.

The saga continues:

Riley’s mother, Christine Malone, received a phone call from Principal Falicia Green, who was “understandably concerned” that students would be talking about firearms.

“She said, ‘You don’t have any guns in the house, do you?’ I told her my son does not have access to guns. Christine Malone tells The Gateway Pundit. “At the time I was very worried my son would be targeted in some way by the school. My son’s rifle is locked up, along with all other guns in the house. He cannot access them – our safe has a finger print lock.”

Christina Malone, Riley’s mother, talked to her son about the conversation. Riley thought he was in trouble and was very upset. She explained to him that he was not in trouble, but it was not a good idea to talk about guns in school because some people might freak out. Obviously she was right.

The article concludes:

“The next day, my son was pulled out of the classroom by a school counselor. She sat him down and asked him if he ever used guns. He was terrified. He told her he has a rifle and that Mom and Dad have hand guns. He told her they are all locked up and that Mom and Dad have taken shooting classes. Apparently, the counselor was satisfied with his answers and I didn’t hear anything more about it from the school.“

While this has apparently concluded, it’s entirely possible that 10 year old Riley is now on some watch list at the school, and surely this non-incident has been added to his record somewhere.

This comes on the heels of similar story involving a New Jersey veteran whom police tried to disarm because his son mentioned something about guns in school.

A child who is taught gun safety and taken to the gun range is not a child who is going to shoot up a school. To treat this child the way he was treated was ridiculous. The mother who reported the incident to the school should have sat down with her son and told him that owning a gun is a legal right in America and that some people have guns. She also might have mentioned that it was rude to eavesdrop!  When the mother of the child who overheard the conversation contacted the principal, the principal should have thanked her for her concern, documented the call, and mentioned to Mrs. Malone that the call was made. That should have been the end of it. As I have previously stated, in the elementary school my husband attended, the children were taught gun safety. The junior high school had a gun range. The high school had a shop where students could bring their guns to work on them. Before you decide that this was some middle American town–it wasn’t–it was Great Neck, New York.