From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Schoolchildren must be 'licenced' to play with toy guns (From Ananova, 04/09/00) Children at a New Zealand school have been forbidden to play cops and robbers, cowboys and indians and other games using toy guns - unless they have a "licence". The Tahunanui kindergarten in Nelson, 90 miles west of the capital Wellington, now requires pupils playing with pretend guns to carry permission cards modelled on real-life weapon permits. Headteacher Helen Durbridge says the move was implemented after children continued to stage mock gun battles despite rules forbidding them. The action, introduced earlier this year, is also operating at other schools in rural New Zealand, where guns are part of everyday life. Police spokesman Insp Joe Green says rural kindergartens run gun-safe programmes, "since guns are a part of their home background and a tool of trade on the farm, whether for killing pests or injured animals, or even for duck-shooting". Miss Durbridge says that children have to justify their need for a toy gun and agree to abide by the rules for its use. Applicants for a licence who say they want to shoot tigers will be told the big cats are shrinking in number and can't be hunted. Those who want to play cops and robbers are told New Zealand police are unarmed, and don't shoot people. She adds that whenever a child younger than four is issued a licence the parent is always informed. Last updated: 06:08 Monday 4th September 2000. -- What is this? Bureaucracy 101? Steve. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
