Rhode Island Boy Suspended For Gun Keychain, Mom Says

A Rhode Island boy was suspended for a gun keychain, according to his mother, when the toy item fell from his bag and a friend picked it up.

According to mom Bonnie Bonanno, the gun suspension over a keychain wasn’t even her son’s fault — and 12-year-old Joseph Lyssikatos himself didn’t play with or show off the item.

Bonanno admits that her son Joseph brought the gun keychain in to Alan Shawn Feinstein Middle School in Coventry, Rhode Island Thursday.

But she says that the coin-sized trinket fell from the boy’s backpack during the school day, and another classmate picked the item up and began to play with it. As is common in such suspensions, the boy who owned the gun keychain, Joseph, was suspended for the infraction.

Bonanno says:

“This boy was the one waving it or showing it to other kids. Not Joseph. Joseph wasn’t doing that… so why weren’t both of them reprimanded?”

Bonanno also says that in addition to suspension from classes, Joseph was barred from an anticipated class field trip to Salem, Massachusetts. The angry mom adds:

“That’s disgraceful because, OK, being suspended for three days, and this big punishment is enough for him mentally.”

Joseph said the keychain gun suspension is interfering with his studies, and threatens to place him behind in some of his advanced level coursework:

“I’m missing the NECAP testing and I’m in advanced math so I’m going to have to re-do all the homework I’m going to miss for advanced math.”

The school refused to confirm or deny Bonanno’s claims over the keychain gun suspension, simply adding in a statement:

“Because this is a student discipline issue, we cannot comment on any specifics.”

Due to the school’s zero tolerance gun policy, the boy was suspended for three days over the keychain gun.