Local elementary school students were shot down when they tried to pass a bill last Thursday.

Fourth graders from the Lincoln Ackerman School Hampton Falls were recently defeated in the efforts to name the state's official raptor.

According to NH1 News, the students proposed House Bill 373 which would recognize the red tailed hawk as such. It was meant to be a learning experience for the students and teach them how a bill become law in the state.

Instead legislators voted the bill down, some criticizing the exercise as a waste of lawmakers time. Of course, NH1 reports that one lawmaker took his opposition one step further.

Rep. Warren Groen, a republican from Rochester said, "It grasps them with its talons then uses its razor sharp beak to basically tear it apart limb by limb, and I guess the shame about making this a state bird is it would serve as a much better mascot for Planned Parenthood."

There has been no official word on how the students reacted to the outcome.