You read that correctly. Yes, STAGE weapons. As in real looking but fake. Now, some Yale drama students have been forced to use cartoony replacements because those are ‘obviously’ fake. The Yale Daily News lays it out:

“Red Noses” director Sarah Holdren ’08 said she first heard about the changes in a phone call from a friend as she arrived at the Off-Broadway Theater on Thursday morning. At the theater, technical director Jim Brewczynski told her about the new regulations. The pair then met with [Betty] Trachtenberg (Dean of Student Affairs), who initially wanted no stage weapons to be used in the show, Holdren said, though she later agreed to permit the use of obviously fake weapons.

…

Susie Kemple ’08, an actress in the show, said Trachtenberg’s way of dealing with the Virginia Tech massacre was not beneficial to the students’ own mourning process.

“It is problematic because all of us were incredibly shocked by the events at Virginia Tech,” Kemple said. “We turn to extracurriculars in our grief [and] the Yale administration makes the healing more difficult. None of the shows are about massive gun violence — this show is about showing and explaining the human experience.”

This is ridiculous.

Yale: Let the show go on as it was supposed to.