“Council Bluffs [Iowa] elementary school student swapped a loaded round of ammunition for playing cards Friday on a school bus, prompting concern among parents and school officials,” omaha.com reports. Parents? Plural? As in OMG! A bullet on a bus! School Officials? Well, yeah, that makes sense (unfortunately).”Titan Hill Intermediate School Principal Kent Stopak said the trade happened on a school bus. The child receiving the round of ammunition told his parents when he got home, and the parents reached out to the school Monday morning. Stopak said he told staff about the incident on Tuesday morning. He said the student who brought the round of ammunition remains enrolled at Titan Hill.” Whew! He missed being expelled by that much. Needless to say, Principal Stopak saw this exchange as a teachable moment . . .
Only a single round of ammunition was involved, he said, and no one was threatened — and no student ever had a weapon. However, Stopak said this should serve as a reminder to gun owners to keep ammunition and weapons locked up because children can be curious about them.
And we don’t want to encourage curiosity by, I dunno, teaching kids about guns and ammunition (as opposed to locking them away in a proverbial Pandora’s box). Like — just thinking out loud here — instructing them on the four safety rules. Anyway, I’ll just say this: it’s a bullet (OK, cartridge) for God’s sake. Not a vial of anthrax. That is all.