Parents upset after kids given to impromptu gun show on school trip
A group of fifth grade students from St. George, South Carolina, were offered a tour this week of the middle school they will be attending next year. The tour took an unexpected detour when teachers invited the owner of a gun armory to show off some rifles.
Belinda Guice, who joined her son on the trip, was outraged when the group of 11-year-olds were exposed to guns at such a young age. "When we got done with that show my son said, 'Mom, I need a .22 caliber,'" Guice told CBS affiliate WCSC-TV.
The school trip took a turn when a teacher had the kids walk to the back of the building. A gun armory and old gutted military tank sit next to the school campus, and the students were brought over to look at the tank.
"That part was fine," Guice said. "But once you take my son along with a lot of kids onto the other side of the building and start a gun show, that's where my concern came in."
She says teachers invited the owner of the armory to show off some guns to the students, without asking parents' permission. Guice, who is also a substitute teacher in the school district, was shocked.
"You took away my right, you took away all of these other kids' parents' rights to allow for me to tell you if I want my son to be introduced to this type of stuff," the upset mother said.
Guice says after telling the story on the news, she received a call saying she is no longer on the substitute teacher list, with no reason as to why.
In a statement provided to WCSC-TV, Dorchester School District Four said the trip and subsequent gun show were "reviewed and handled in accordance with District policies."
