Young Boy Bursts Into Tears After Mall Santa Says He Can't Have A Nerf Gun

A mall Santa in Illinois is out of a job after he made a young boy cry. Sabella DeCarlo took her son Michael to Harlem Irving Plaza in Norridge, Illinois, on December 6 to meet Santa Claus.

When Santa asked Michael what he wanted for Christmas, the boy paused before declaring he wanted a toy gun.

"No, no guns," Santa told him.

DeCarlo clarified, "Nerf gun," but Santa was unmoved.

"Nope, not even a Nerf gun," he replied. "If your dad wants to get it for you, that's fine, but I can't bring it to you. What else would you like? Lots of other toys. Legos. There's bicycles. There's cars and trucks. What do you think?"

The boy turned to his mother and started to cry, while she promised him he would get a Nerf gun for Christmas. DeCarlo posted a video of the encounter on Facebook, where it went viral.

"My poor baby. This was the first year Michael was excited to go see Santa. It was supposed to be magical, but instead, I had to watch my sweet little boy fight back tears because Santa told him No because of his own personal beliefs," she wrote. "I had to think fast and explain to him that this Santa was just a helper and not the real guy. I just wanted to console my baby and get him out of there, flipping out on Santa would have only made it worse. His Elfie is going to bring him a Nerf gun directly from the North Pole, from the real Santa, tonight."

When officials at Harlem Irving Plaza learned about the incident, they reached out to DeCarlo to make things right. They issued a statement saying that Santa had resigned and said they have advised the other Santas "not impose personal opinions during visits with the children."

"We are happy to report that the 'real' Santa visited the boy at his home today to bring him a nerf gun! We hope we restored Christmas magic to this boy and his family with Santa's special visit," Harlem Irving Plaza said in a statement.

After the video went viral, people from all over the world stepped up and promised to send Michael a Nerf gun. Now that Michael got his Christmas wish, DeCarlo is working to organize a toy drive to help deliver Nerf guns and other toys to children in need.

"We're trying to turn this unfortunate incident into something positive and spread cheer to children who really need it," she wrote.

Photo: Getty Images