Zero Tolerance wackiness: "Fencing Team Banned From North Dakota State University Because Of 'Weapons Policy'"

What is next to be banned?  Shot puts from track and field events?

Fencing, an Olympic sport sponsored by more than 30 NCAA schools, involves two athletes engaging in what is effectively a sword fight with a foil, saber, or épée. The equipment is blunted and does not have any actual blades or sharp tips. Unfortunately, for the newly-formed club fencing team at North Dakota State University, fencing equipment counts as a weapon, and the club has been barred from practicing on campus. 

Naturally, the club members and their coach are not thrilled about this decision: 

"The current interpretation of the non-weapon policy in NDSU...understands our fencing equipment as weapons," says the club's coach Enrique Alvarez. . . .