Anti-gun hysteria may have hit a new low.

The previous all-time low was when a 7-year-old was suspended from school last year for biting a Pop Tart into what one teacher thought was the shape of pistol. Now a student at Lehman High School in Texas has prompted his school administrators to go into near-lockdown mode when he asked a fellow student for some chewing gum and was mistakenly overheard as saying “gun.”

A school spokesman insists that the school never went into lockdown, but administrators did “hold students in their extended class periods to investigate the concern with little to no disruption to their schedule.”

Principal Michelle Chae sent a letter home to parents after the incident, according to the Hays Free Press, writing:

Dear Lobo Parents,

This morning we received a report from a student that there was allegedly a weapon on campus. After investigating the concern, it was determined that a student thought he heard the word “gun,” but in fact it was another student asking for some “gum.”

The safety of our students is always foremost on our list of priorities, so we take these concerns seriously. We continue to encourage students to report anything they see or hear that causes them concern. Fortunately, in this case, it was a misunderstanding and there was no threat to our school or need to conduct a lockdown.

Because we are conducting the PSAT, we were able to hold students in their extended class periods to investigate the concern with little to no disruption to their schedule.

Sincerely,

Michelle Chae
Principal, LHS

No gun was found and no one was suspended. How is it, though, that a student who says the word "gum" can cause an instant investigation, and yet no one reports a student who gives off every indication of being a depressed loner off his meds and obsessed with murdering people in video games - until it's too late?