Mock Drill Rifle--Warning

Mom1315

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5-Year Member
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Hi All, just for information: Read the article on the link below. A USMMA candidate just got suspended from her school and is facing expulsion for transporting fake wooden drill team rifles in her car. She had parked her SUV at her high school and had the drill rifles (fake!) in ther because she had practice after school. Read the article, it was such an honest mistake and it has turned into a huge deal.
Amazing that it does not seem the school is being reasonable at all.

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=109380&catid=339
 
Wow... Thats crazy. My AFJROTC unit, in Colorado, uses demilitarized rifles (so not even fake! The only difference between them and an actual rifle is the firing pin has been filed down) for our drill and color guard teams. They are locked up in the school in a safe but some are transported in vehicles for out of school presentations. This will definitely spark issues with in-school drill teams...

That is disappointing that the school overreacted at such a small thing... At least she has been told that she will still be able to attend the USMMA regardless of her suspension.
 
I can't completely fault the school. Is an expulsion needed? I don't really think so. Was a suspension needed? Maybe. It's common sense, don't bring anything that looks like a gun to school. Hasn't always been that way, but it has always been that way since this girl went to school.
 
I am with LITS, an expulsion is not needed. Thank goodness this wont affect her possible appointment to USMMA, I would be very upset if that happened to me
 
You can rob a store with a toy gun and it is still armed robbery! If that rifle had the apearance to make a resonable person believe it could be real then her suspension is justified. A couple of years ago Boston police shot and killed a man for pointing an airsoft pistol at them. Upon closer examimination the rifle is clearly fake if you were to pointb that rifle at someone they would definatley be in fear of being shot.
 
Just my opinion, but I feel your analogy is WAAAY off base there, stvblm. You're confusing someone comitting a criminal act with the intention to simulate a weapon against a situation where a young person made an honest (if foolhardy) mistake. No mention of her taking her gun into class and pointing it at someone in the article; in fact, she just left them in her car, and they were seen by other students who became concerned (and rightfully so..)

No, what is PROMINENTLY displayed here is a lack of judgement on the young girls part, and a school adminstration over-reacting and using "MANDATORY" punishments as a shield for thier own lack of ability to investigate a matter and punish accordingly.

Does the young lady deserve a suspension? IMO, yes. Should it be 10 days? Well, I think the punishment is a little harsh for someone who's crime was lack of judgement. Good thing she didn't have a 10 pound bag of Oregano next to the fake drill rifles. She'd be doing life at San Quentin right now....
 
"Zero-tolerance" policies are the problem (same with mandatory-minimum sentences). They remove the ability to use common sense when dealing with gray areas such as this.

This case is just as absurd as the 1st grader suspended for drawing a picture of a gun, or the expelled 9 year-old who pointed a chicken-nugget at his classmate and said "bang bang" while at recess.
 
Agree with those above who suggest that "policy" is being followed over pragmatism -- especially the part in the article where the school official implies that it is "state and federal law" that "requires expulsion." That's simply bogus, at least with respect to federal law -- and, maybe Colorado would have passed such a law following Columbine, but the discretion to choose between the two should be at the local school/school board level. My 2 cents....
 
One thing that no one ever addressed is what were "students" doing looking into the back seat of another students car with tinted windows during school hours??
 
This is the time of year we always hear about an Eagle scout who came back late from a campout and didn't clean out his car and has a hatchet in the trunk...common sense isn't so common, after all.
 
Definitely poor planning but when you read the Federal Statute. If they are going to call a carved wooden stick a firearm then they appear to have been exempt since they fall under the following. I think 10 days suspension is a bit much, however if police were in hot pursuit and they turned around unexpectedly with the drill rifle there would be a high likelihood that they would be shot.
(2)(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to
possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects
interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual
knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.
(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the possession of a
firearm -


(iv) by an individual for use in a program approved by a school
in the school zone;
 
The problem, tpg, was not what he said, but how he said it. It should have been: "A police officer can shoot and kill someone when he/she is working." I believe your son received a grammar citation.

:shake::yllol::biggrin::thumb:
 
this is ridiculous. the same thing happened to my friend a few weeks ago. she had all the rotc rifles in the back of her car, which is parked closest to the road. all that happened was one of the admins had her take them out of her car during class. and then we joked about if they had actually made a big deal about it.
 
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