When I was seven years old, I had toy guns. Most of my friends did, too. We’d put these strips of caps in them and shoot ‘em at one another. Bang! Bang! Bang!

Sometimes we wore cowboy hats while doing this. Sometimes we ran out of caps and just threw the guns at one another. Those cheap castings had sharp edges, do in this case the guns might have been considered ‘dangerous weapons’.

However, when a seven-year-old pointed a toy gun at some other kids on December 6 of last year, it was felonious assault, according to the Washtenaw County, Michigan, prosecutor’s office.

The kid’s mother sums up things best, I think:

“I think it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” said Lisa Davis, Tommy’s mother. “This is a waste of taxpayers’ money. I didn’t think it was against the law to have a toy gun. Doesn’t the police department have anything better to do than to take complaints from kids who have a dispute with other kids?”