A Texas school had to apologise to parents after their children were shown images of an AR-15-style rifle just a day after a similar rifle was used during the Uvalde school shooting.
According to the Star-Telegram, Fort Worth's newspaper, a school in that community held a career-day presentation, during which a deputy from the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office showed images of the rifle.
One of the images the deputy showed was a poster titled "A Liberal's Guide to the Deadly AR-15," which uses non-technical and exaggerated phrases to describe the various parts of a rifle.
Tekmat, a firearm accessory company which offers the image on one of its gun cleaning mats, describes the image as such:
"This tongue-in-cheek mat pokes fun at the way liberal's and anti-gun advocates describe the AR-15. It calls out how ridiculous their claims are and the misinformation they are propagating. This is the perfect addition to your man cave, or better yet, send it to your gun-hating liberal friends."
A spokesperson for the sheriff's office told the newspaper that the deputy's presentation had nothing to do with AR-15s. However, a district employee at Daggett Elementary School claimed the weapon — which has been the rifle of choice for many mass shooters in the US — was being discussed with young students.
The incident prompted the school's principal, Kendall Miller, to issue a statement apologising to parents after "one of the presentations by a local public safety agency included information that was not age-appropriate."
He acknowledged that showing children images of an assault rifle a day after a similar one was used to gun down 19 students and two teachers in the same state was likely a misstep.
“In light of recent events, the officer’s presentation was insensitive, not suitable, and not condoned by Daggett Elementary and the Fort Worth ISD,” he said.
Mr Miller said the school was working with staff to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.
Gun control and the proliferation of firearms throughout the country has once again become a subject of intense focus in the US following the Uvalde shooting.
A week before the attack, the shooter shared an image from Daniel Defense — the company that manufactured the gun he used in the shooting — which showed a toddler holding a disassembled AR-15 and a Bible quote.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it,” the photo's caption read.
