I read that article in the Nugget as well, and had mixed feelings about it. True, the gun wasn't real, but, what if someone thought it was and it scared them? I don't know specifically the policy here in NC about fake guns in school, but I do know bank laws regarding fake guns and robberies. In the commission of a robbery at a bank, if someone brandishes a fake gun at you, whether it be a toy gun, plastic gun, lighter gun, or pellet gun that looks like a real bullet gun, the perpetrator is still charged with a weapons charge because he led the victims to believe it was real and the fear was real. It is possible that school systems have this same policy, that a fake gun is treated as a real one. Now, that being said, I think that this young man who was showing off his gun at LCMS shouldnt be charged with a weapons charge necesarrily. Was it wrong to bring that to school? Probably. Is it serious? Probably not.