A school in Iowa is banning a time-honored tradition memorializing veterans who served the country with their lives.
Administrators at Belle Plaine High School in Belle Plaine say the facility will no longer hold their annual Veteran’s Day assembly on school grounds, claiming the event’s traditional 21 gun salute violates Iowa gun laws, according to NBC affiliate KWWL.
A previous report from KWWL stated the school claimed the 21 gun salute “promoted gun violence.”
Veterans and residents of the small town were understandably upset following the announcement, “as veterans firing blank rifles at the school assembly has been a fun and safe tradition for as long as some students can remember,” reports Hillary Maglin.
A member of the American Legion, a veterans organization, offered up their property near the school so the assembly could continue, but they are disappointed over the school’s decision and fear it could reverberate to other parts of the state.
Pam Munson, a commander at American Legion Post 39, says her organization will continue to argue in favor of the assembly.
Similar efforts to demonize firearms have already popped up in other schools across the country. In one school in West Virginia, a 14-year-old faced a year in jail simply for wearing an NRA shirt which featured a hunting rifle and the words “protect your right.”
In other schools around the nation, anti-gun hysteria has manifested in students being suspended or expelled for playing with toy guns, biting pastries into gun shapes and even making gun gestures with their hands.
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