Saint Mary’s University not allowing Nintendo Zapper image on posters

The Nova Scotia school is banning the toy gun image because it violates their poster policy

Myself along with many other young kids in the late 1980s used to stand about six inches from the TV and shoot ducks out of the air in the popular game Duck Hunt. It was quite the accomplishment to hit them all even if there was very little room for error from such a close distance.

But now a cartoon image of that gun, called the "Zapper", isn't allowed on a Canadian University campus because it violates the school union's poster policy, reports the Journal, the school's independent student newspaper.

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The Gaming Society at Saint Mary's University in Halifax was getting ready for a gaming event to take place at a student bar on Friday. So to advertise the event they created posters that featured a joystick, a mug of beer and a Nintendo Zapper. But the student association put the kibosh on the poster because of a poster policy that forbids images that damage the university community's reputation. The Zapper on the poster was replaced with a Power Glove, another Nintendo accessory.

"We honestly never expected anything like this out of a poster," said Alexandria Bennett, outgoing president of SMUdent Gaming, the group putting on the event to Yahoo! Canada News. "We were told it looked like a real gun."

The group cleared it with the school so they can play Duck Hunt and use the gun at the event Friday. Bennett said the worst that can happen is someone can strangle someone with the wire, but they tested the wire and learned it will break before someone gets strangled. The gun can't actually be used for much real violence.

"Any society on campus that ratifies agrees to follow certain SMUSA (Saint Mary's University Student Association) policies regarding conduct," writes Adam Faber in the Journal. "In return the association provides access to limited funding, insurance coverage during events, the ability to book rooms, and other various benefits."

If the group didn't comply with the association's demands, they could have lost official status.

Despite the student association policy, some students can't help but wonder why they need to be babysat at a school that is supposed to be teaching people to be adults, according to Bennett. But for the most part, people aren't making too big of a deal out of it.

As for the gamers, Bennett said, "Posters aren't the biggest of our problems, we're more concerned about getting to the next level (of a video game)."

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If you're thinking this is ridiculous because it's only an image of a fake gun, you are not alone.

Michael Peck of Forbes chimed in with his opinion writing, "Now college game clubs can't mention guns, because the mere sight of a video game weapon might induce crazoid gamers to disembowel their fellow students with plastic lightsabers. I'm sure the good citizens of Halifax will sleep better tonight, knowing that they've been saved from the Nintendo Apocalypse."

SMUdent Gaming was initially expecting about 100 for the event, but because of the coverage they may see triple that number show up.

(Wikimedia Commons image)

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