I think the MPAA tried to give Assault on PC13 an NC-17 rating because of that scene, actually. If memory serves, and it often doesn't, they cut the scene, resubmitted, got their R rating, and then released the original cut as the R!

Your memory is spot on, mav. That's exactly how it happened. While I do not enjoy the scene, I believe it adds realism. I read an interview with Kim Fields long ago in which she talked briefly abut being set up with a squib for the first and only time in her career. She said all the adults on the set that day were really grim and she didn't understand why. She was having the time of her life.

Cool. I hadn't heard that part (about the interview)! Tough scene, for sure, but does add something memorable to the film, for sure! Probably the most shocking scene in a Carpenter film, along with the teeth in the torso in The Thing!