Posted on 03/10/2004 7:49:57 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The "Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994" requires a one-year expulsion of any student who brings a firearm to any elementary or secondary school that receives federal funding. The Act allows "the chief administering officer of such local educational agency to modify such expulsion requirement for a student on a case-by-case basis."
Many public schools have taken the liberty to expand this policy to include toy guns, food items being used as toy guns, and children pointing their fingers like guns. Most would agree that this is ludricious, with the exception of many schoolteachers and policymakers whose melodramatic paranoia of anything gun-like is beyond any semblance of reason.
This reefer-madness mentality about firearms is a major contributing factor to the total lack of education about the Second Amendment in our nation's schools. Plus, it creates a mysterious, forbidden mystique about firearms that generates a natural curiosity among young people. A curiosity that puts some at risk as they may not have had any education about firearms or firearm safety and are certainly not going to get such an education at school.
This hyper-sensitivity to all-things-gun may have just cost a California high school senior his future. The high school senior, Adam Liston, is a responsible, hard working, patriotic, honor student. Always one to follow the rules and never one to get in trouble, Adam was a model student, but he was also a gun owner. A gun owner who committed a crime.
Adam's crime was that of forgetfulness. As is typical of a teenager he forgot. They forget all kinds of things, don't they? But, this one just might ruin his chances at a life that he has barely begun.
The high-schooler purchased a shotgun, legally, for his 18th birthday. Being an avid sportsman, he enjoyed shooting before and after school and during lunch breaks, off campus. But, the young man forgot to remove his unloaded shotgun before returning to school one day. A fellow student, having seen Mr. Liston's shotgun in the gun-rack on the back of his pickup on a previous day, reported Adam to the principal's office.
The principal called Adam into his office and asked for permission to search the truck. Mr. Liston agreed. That's all fine and well. We understand that the principal was merely trying to ensure that Davis High School was in compliance with the "Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994."
What we don't understand is why four police units were also on the scene. After all, Adam Liston was not hostile or disturbed. He was a model citizen and honor student. He cooperated with the principal. No threats or anti-social behavior had been demonstrated by him. And yet, the police were there in full force.
Upon retrieving the unloaded shotgun, Adam Liston, high school honor student, was charged with two felonies. If convicted, he can never own a firearm again and he will always have trouble finding a job. This incident of simple forgetfulness will follow him for the rest of his life thanks to his educators at Davis High School. He was also expelled, of course.
Our nation's educators have taken their gun-phobia to an extreme that has become dangerous to our children. Unable to keep their emotions in check, school officials are now ruining the lives of otherwise good kids.
What will society do as Adam's fate hangs in the balance? Will regular folks step in and demand an end to this rampant discrimination against gun owners? Or will we continue to kowtow to the whining, sniveling, rats who demand that we submit and deny ourselves our rights in order to preserve the status quo?
Davis High School - (530) 757-5400
Davis Joint Unified School District - (530) 757-5300 ext. 142
Yolo County Unified School District - (530) 668-3703
Davis Police Department, Investigations Unit - (530) 747-5430
Whether or not you should disobey an unconstitutional law is not what we've been discussing.
The issue is your contemptuous attitude toward a citizen who is facing criminal charges for violating a law you believe is unconstitutional.
Agreed. The point I'm trying to get across to the poster is that the Second Amendment is supposed to be the Supreme Law.
His contempt should be for the unconstitutional GFSA, not for a citizen exercising the RBKA.
If he did it delibertly, I applaud him for his courage.
If he forgot he had a SHOtGUN in his truck, he's a dumba$$.
Possibly so, but the focus belongs on the Second Amendment violation and Commerce Clause abuse, IMO.
We have been trying to stop sliding down the slippery slope since Barry Goldwater lost the presidential election.
Perhaps it is in this that the original meaning of the amendment is being lost.
Contemporary dictionary definitions of "Militia" (simply: "the Army") and "regulated" (in a word: "Controlled"), when substituted, yield the basis of the amendment. To wit: A well-controlled Army being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
The idea being that the overwhelming numbers of armed citizens, even in the absence of martial training, could keep the Army in check should it no longer be subservient to the Civil power.
The discussion is to be found in the Federalist Papers, where the question of a standing army, and its size (if any)is dealt with.
Unfortunately, relying on a later definition of militia opens the door to the entire militia v.s. National Guard v.s. population in general argument and obfusticates the notion of the RKBA.
Note also that the word 'State' has undergone radical transformation from the pre-ratification era (one of my ancestors swore an oath to the Soverign State of Maryland, prior to the Articles of Confederation)to the post-Civil War era, when 'States' had become mere political subdivisions, and not soverign nations united for the purpose of a common defense, and to promote the general welfare....
Zerotolerance is the epidomy of the law of unintended consequences. You get hysteria by a few sucker moms scared of gang bangers and you get a law of zero tolerance.
And oftentimes people like Adam are the ones caught.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.