A Staten Island fourth grader was nearly suspended for taking a machine gun to school. A two-inch plastic replica belonging to a LEGO policeman.

Nine year-old Patrick Timoney was playing with the LEGO toys with his friends in the school's lunchroom when the principle saw the toy gun and took him to her office to begin the suspension process. After calling the child's parents (his father is a retired police officer which is why Patrick liked the toy), common sense eventually prevailed over zero tolerance and little Patrick was set free. The gun was confiscated, presumably to be destroyed in a blast furnace.

The New York Department of Education backed the principle and said there was "cause for concern."