When does "policy" preclude common sense?

The news says that a Rhode Island second-grader violated his school’s no-weapons policy by gluing toy soldiers to his hat. The student is 8 years old and chose the patriotic theme for a class project, but school officials objected to the tiny guns carried by the soldiers. “The issue for us,” said a school official, “was the zero-tolerance for weapons.”

The issue for me is, “When does a toy glued to the hat of an 8 year old become a weapon?”