Student's yearbook photo rejected because he's holding a shotgun

A US high school student’s yearbook photo has been rejected because it shows him posing with a shotgun.

Wade Gelinas says his school’s refusal to accept the photo he submitted is an “infringement of his rights”.

The Maine teenager, who attends Bonny Eagle High School, wanted the gun to be in the photo as hunting is a long-standing tradition in his family.

“So here's what I wanted to have as my senior picture but was informed ‘No you can't put something like that in the yearbook’,” he explained.

“So you're telling me that a football player can have theirs with a football, a lacrosse player can have theirs with their stick, and a guy or girl can dress up like one or the other but a hunter can't have theirs with their gun!”

The school’s headmaster Lori Napolitano said that photos with weapons were not allowed in the yearbook.

“Drugs, alcohol, weapons, tobacco are not allowed at school, and you cannot wear clothing that has pictures of weapons on it,” she told WCSH-TV.  

“We just want to draw the line at weapons of any kind being in the picture and that way it doesn’t get into a place where we’re trying to pass judgment on which ones are promoting violence and which ones are not.”

Photographer Kelly Roy said she thought there was “no way” the photo would be accepted. Mr Gelinas has been forced to submit a new photo.