NICE ROUNDUP: Nine-year-old suspended for pretending his toy was a gun.

Unfortunately for Gage and young children across the country, actions that  were once considered simple childhood fun are slowly become punishable  crimes.

Despite a 70 percent drop in gun crime since 1993 according to U.S.  Justice Department statistics, a media-induced hysteria has led to a near ban on  normal childhood behavior.

Just last March, a 6-year-old student from Washington state was temporarily suspended for talking about a Nerf gun he had at  home because others reportedly found the conversation “threatening.”

A 7-year-old student in Maryland was suspended after chewing his “Pop Tart” breakfast pastry into the shape of a  gun last March as well.

Two 6-year-old students in Maryland were suspended last January for making  gun gestures with their hands while playing “cops and robbers.” The school claimed the boys’ game was a  threat to other students.

That same month a 5-year-old girl in Pennsylvania was suspended for  simply talking about her “Hello Kitty” toy bubble gun during the bus ride home.  According to the school, her actions constituted a “terroristic threat.”