Weenie watch

An HVCC student was arrested on campus this afternoon, suspended from school and charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly having an unloaded .22 rifle in his (or her) vehicle (along with a loaded magazine clip elsewhere in the vehicle). According to the college's director of public safety, the gun had been left "in plain view," and "We are extremely appreciative of the diligence of the student who initially reported this to us." Seems more like a nosy parker to me.

The college said it has "a zero tolerance policy for possession of firearms on campus," citing the state penal law, which I was surprised to see (Section 265.01) bans guns "at any school, college or university."

If a bad guy chose to conceal a gun, however, for the purpose of committing the kinds of mass murder we have unfortunately seen at campuses around the country, there's no way HVCC or other schools would find out until too late. So the ban is unenforceable when it might matter, and just serves to disarm law-abiding students and faculty who might be able to intervene to stop a massacre.

I see the U.S. Supreme Court today decided to take up a case which could overturn state gun laws, like this one, that appear on their face to violate the Second Amendment. 

Comments

[Jonathan Patrizio]

you're exactly right..the person who reported shouldve minded his/her own buisness. It's a hunting weapon and the person who had it, is in fact a hunter. I know them personally, and he/she was treated like some kind of terrorist. I know for a fact they only use weapons for the sport of hunting, which they have a licence for and is legal, whether people agree with it on a ethics level or not.They would never harm another person and now is facing mistemedor charges. Yes, its good to be mindful of suspicious activity, but the gun was in "plain-sight" in the trunk and the clip was all the way in the front of car and the driver was not in it. Just wanted to clear that up, for anyone wondering.

[Johannah Turner]

Constitutional and other social issues aside, if I saw a firearm lying around "in plain view" in an unattended vehicle on a college campus, I would report it to appropriate authorities simply because it was hazardous and not expect to be ridiculed publicly for doing so. Hunters and others who would carry guns must do so responsibly. Once upon a time even kids who got Daisy Rifles were made to understand such basic safety requirements.

I can't get the sense of "Weenie Watch." I associate the word "weenie" with hot dogs and with the old ditty about Mussolini's member.

[Brian]

Right, because college students are famous for showing only exemplary judgment, especially with regard to self-control.

[Brian]

To quote you, "sounds a bit like the NRA line."

So if college students should be allowed to be armed to deter mass violence, why not Iran?

[Mike]

Iran? Are you serious? they're not armed with nuclear technology and a psycho dictator to use them,are they? exactly, what a ridiculous comment sir. And I think mistemedor charges and possible expulsion from school is a bit much for someone forgetting their squirel gun in their locked trunk. Keep The liberal propaganda pouring in, thats why theres no bipartisanship. I'm an independent and thats the reason why, everyones always too afraid, or too stupid to do the right things and otherwise smart things. I would publicly ridicule you right now, like I am. SMARTEN UP PEOPLE!!!

[Brian]

Mike, people with grammar and spelling as poor as yours have no business riduculing other people as stupid.

[Brian]

"...no business riduculing..."

*-ridiculing

[Josh]

Well i would like to say something myself on the matter. I am the brother of the HVCC student. Now i dont know where everyone else is from (brian) but in the country where we grow up it is nothing to have a gun in your car. Now obviously if the rifle was in "plain view" he had nothing to hide right. And the fact that you could even compare a country like Iran in this is completely unbelievable. What do you live under a rock. If you even did any research of how rediculous this law even is you would see. The fact that my brother, an avid hunter and law abiding citezen for the past 22 years is going to be thrown under the same penalties as past felons. I understand the fact of the possible violence issue, but enough is enough. Now to say that he wasnt being a responsible hunter in itself is bull. Now to me, if someone was to steal the rifle out of the car and use it, that would be the criminal, not my brother. And back to actually reading and interperiting the law, under it the normal baseball player at HVCC who has his baseball bat in the car for practice is breaking the law. So when are we going to understand enough is enough. How about the fact that we hand out scaples to people in the biology classes and perform desections on the little piggy. Now whos to say maybe we should't do that. And im sorry if my spelling isnt correct. Sorry we all cant be as smart as you.

[Matthew]

Josh,

Perhaps you & your brother need a refresher. According to the NRA's own guidelines, "Store guns so they are not accessible to unauthorized persons."

http://www.nrahq.org/education/guide.asp

I hardly think a weapon left in plain view of a car would be considered "proper storage". If he were being a responsible hunter as you claim, he would have taken the extra 60 seconds to put the weapon in his trunk.

[Josh]

Well mathew thats true but #1 all the vehicle doors were locked and #2 its a jeep so the trunk is accesible from the passenger area. Whaterever happened to the criminal being the one to break in and take the weapon. Criminals hide weapons, not hunters. Hunters weapons and registered, just like the hunter is lisenced and has to take the hunter safety course. Criminals dont. So once again like i stated, the person hiding the gun (usually someone who is a criminal, done something wrong, not allowed to carry a gun, not licensed to do so) is fine because its hidden.

[Matthew]

Josh,

More importantly, criminals are either not aware &/or do not think laws apply to them.

In this case, there are already laws on the books (Section 265.01 as referenced in the body of the main blog which I trust to be accurate) stating, "a zero tolerance policy for possession of firearms on campus at any school, college or university."

I sympathize that your brother despite the best of intentions screwed up. But it ultimately comes down he broke the rules. Let this simply be a valuable life lesson & learn from it that actions have consequences.

Think the law is stupid & needs to be changed (which is your right), I encourage you to write your elected representatives. The police officers making the arrest are simply doing their job.