Well, I do work in edycation too, and apart from the head being silly for suspending the boy, what else are we supposed to do to prewent kids from playing with guns/weapons? And lately, in my school, I had a case of kids Role-playing a gunfight... *considers banning possibilities*
Do educators even remember what it was like being a kid?
If you say no about something it then becomes taboo. When it becomes taboo people will do it, especially kids.
It's like alcohol, cigarettes or sex, you can't drink, smoke or have sex until you're 18. (or even 21 in the case of alcohol.)
Does this actually stop kids from doing these things? No.
You cannot stop anyone from doing anything they really want to do. Ban it, make it illegal, whatever, You will not stop it.
You can, however, teach them how to do it responsibly or the consequences of doing the actions.
Most hunters never become murderers. Why? Because they see and understand firsthand what a gun can do and not the glamorized Hollywood version of what guns do.
A large amount of our population, especially kids, rarely see or comprehend the consequences of their actions until it slaps them straight in the face.