A four-year-old boy whose request for a Nerf gun was refused by a mall Santa has been given a stash of new toy guns by the National Rifle Association.
The initial encounter took place on December 6 when a young boy named Michael went to visit Santa at Harlem Irving Plaza mall in Illinois.
Michael's mom Sabella subsequently posted a video of the incident, criticizing the mall Santa for refusing the gift due to "his own personal beliefs".
She wrote in full:
"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.
"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. Hasbro Gaming Nerf."
In the video, Michael can be seen on the other side of a large desk from Santa, with a plexiglass screen separating the pair.
When the little boy told Santa he would like a Nerf gun this festive season, the man from the North Pole refused without pulling any punches.
"No - no guns," he said. But when Michael's mom clarified that he meant a Nerf gun, Santa continued to refuse.
"Nope, not even a Nerf gun," he said. "Nope. 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? There are lots of other toys; there are Legos, bicycles, there are cars and trucks. What do you think? What do you think?"
Michael then burst into tears at Santa's harsh response to his Christmas request.
However, the NRA has since stepped in to help the four-year-old by delivering a sack full of toy guns to his home in Illinois as part of their mission to "make Michael’s Christmas the best ever.”
"Mean Santa won’t be happy I have this," DeCarlo says in the video, per Fox News, before emerging victorious from a Nerf battle with a sunglasses-wearing Santa.
"Mall Santa didn’t want to give Michael a Nerf gun for Christmas and made him cry. The @NRA made it our mission to fix this and make Michael’s Christmas the best EVER." The NRA wrote on Twitter.
Responses to the video were decidedly mixed. One Twitter user wrote, "Amazing, and one of the reasons I have faith in humanity! Love me a good Nerf war with my grandkids!"
However a second commenter said, "This is wrong on so many levels."
