School allows students to pose with guns in yearbook photos
A high school in Nebraska now allows students to pose with guns in their senior portraits.
The decision to allow firearms in school photos came after a student asked to be photographed with his gun last year, according to The Huffington Post.
The school board voted on the issue, eventually allowing guns in pictures as long it "does not depict violence towards humanity", said the Omaha World-Herald, quoting Broken Bow Public Schools Superintendent Mark Sievering.
Sievering also said the school was initially concerned that allowing students to pose with guns would promote violence, but also acknowledged that hunting is a significant part of the community.
No pointing guns at camera
“The board, I believe, felt they wanted to give students who are involved in those kinds of things the opportunity to take a senior picture with their hobby, with their sport, just like anybody with any other hobby or sport,” Sievering said, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
The district previously had no policy governing senior photos for the yearbook, but its practice had been to prohibit guns in light of national concerns about school violence, said Sievering.
The new policy specifies that when posing with an item normally considered a weapon, such as a rifle, shotgun or knife, the student may not brandish the weapon or point it at the camera.
The policy also states that a student “should not submit a photograph of game shot by the student if the animal is in obvious distress”.
Sources: The Huffington Post, Omaha World-Herald
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