This might sound kind of silly and/or off topic... but I'll tell the story anyways.
For four months out of the year, I work with a touring opera company that goes to elementary schools and gives 45 minute presentations of operas for children. This year, the show was the daughter of the regiment. Now, as you might suspect, there are gun props in the story seeing as how the story takes place on Napoleons army camp. We use the gun props during the little opera. Mostly we just would march around with them than put them away when we were finished using them. Never were they pointed at anybody at any time...
Anyways, after the programs we always let kids ask us a few questions about the story/opera/whatever. Many times, we would get questions about the guns. (Especially in the inner city schools, might I add). I would always take the time to explain how a) they were not real guns at all, only wooden props - and - b)guns are nothing to be frightned about. They are wonderful tools that are used for lots of different things, like target shooting. I told them to never point a gun at anybody and, if they were not sure about what to do when they saw a gun, they should get an adult and not freak out.
The gun questions were the ones that I was the happiest to answer, and in many schools, I could just see shades of red creeping up the necks and faces of a few teachers of the leftist persuasion.
Unintended consequence of art in public schools!
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