A student is suing his school for a dress code that bars him from wearing a t-shirt with a picture of a gun

WALES, Wis. -- A high school in Wisconsin has a dress code that students have to follow, and it says the mere picture of a gun is not allowed. Some say this violates their free speech rights.

Robert Newhouse isn’t old enough to own a gun, but he said he is a gun rights supporter. “They’re really fun,” Newhouse said. “It’s great to use to go hunting. I like hunting.”

When he was told he couldn’t wear his shirt - on which is a rifle with the words “Pew Professional” written underneath - he and his family were confused.

"Just to have a picture to be a supporter of our gun rights and be a supporter of just legal ownership of guns, it was very upsetting," said Kimberly Newhouse, Robert’s mother.

Robert continued to wear the shirt until Kimberly got a letter from the school which read, in part: “We do not allow students to wear clothes that depict guns (or alcohol, drugs, etc.) … Moving forward, Robert cannot wear any items of clothing that depict guns.”

A classmate of Robert’s faced similar discipline for wearing a shirt featuring a Wisconsin Carry, Inc. logo. The organization is a gun rights organization.

Nik Clark is the group’s CEO.

"It doesn't matter what your dress code says,” Clark said. “The Constitution of the United States and the First Amendment trumps your dress code. If a school sanctions a walkout for gun control and to call for gun control, to call for universal background checks, to call for red flag laws, certainly they should at least allow students to wear a non-violent, non-threatening shirt as they go about their daily business."

Robert hopes his lawsuit will allow him to wear the shirt

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