A court just upheld the suspension of that kid who ate his Pop-Tart into a gun shape

The kid who ate his Pop-Tart into a shape resembling a gun will not have the resultant suspension removed from his permanent record, a Maryland judge ruled.

Now 11 years old, Josh Welch was in second grade when he nibbled his pastry into a shape he says was supposed to be a mountain. "There was no physical injury, and I think they should be able to deal with a 7-year-old in-house," said the Welch family's attorney, Robin Ficker. "I hope the school system will think twice about putting kids out of school instead of dealing with minor discipline problems. It would be different if this was a 17-year-old and he was threatening physical harm."

School officials argue the child was playing with the breakfast food as if it were a gun, not a mountain, and that the suspension was based on a longer record of behavioral problems beyond this single incident.

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Josh did, however, get a lifetime NRA membership out of his ordeal, and his case inspired legislation in Florida which explicitly protects "brandishing a partially consumed pastry or other food item to simulate a firearm or weapon."