Stupid is as stupid does

Charlie Martin @ Pajamas Media:

The story started like this: Marie Morrow, a junior in Cherokee Trails High School in Aurora, Colorado, is a cadet staff sergeant in the Young Marines and the commander of her local drill team. She made a mistake: she parked on the school’s parking lot with several wooden “parade rifles” in her car.

The problem? A Colorado state law that requires “zero tolerance” of any student in possession of any dangerous weapon — or anything that an uneducated person might take as a facsimile of a dangerous weapon. Someone who saw the parade rifles reported them to the school and the Colorado law, with its mandatory provisions, came into effect. The car was identified by its parking sticker, the school notified Cadet SSGT Morrow and her family, and she was suspended.

I thought the story was rather astonishing: I was in the ROTC and Civil Air Patrol drill teams in high school, and hell, we used real M-14s for drill, not parade mock-ups. And parade rifles might be mistaken for a real rifle by someone who had never seen either except from a distance, but they resemble a real rifle about as much as what a handy sixth grader would carve out of a two-by-six. She was suspended and came under threat of expulsion for possession of lumber.

But such is the process of the law. I talked to Tustin Amole, the communications director for the Cherry Creek School District, and she told me there were several points about the story. First of all, the law doesn’t allow any leeway or discretion. “Once the principal or school determines it is a ‘reasonable facsimile’ of a weapon, they have no choice.” The student must be suspended and there must be an expulsion hearing before the school board. The hearing is held before an “independent hearing officer” who must first of all determine if it really is a reasonable facsimile of a weapon; the hearing officer could find it didn’t meet the burden of mandating expulsion. Otherwise, they were required by law to expel the student, but that expulsion could be for anything from the time already served under suspension, to the end of the year. The hearing was set for February 20.

It ends well... this time.

Comments

[Locutisprime]

What is astonishing to me? Are the facsimiles of educators, legislators and supposed leaders that we now have running rampant in this country.

These people need to be shown rifles by the dozen IMO. Accompanied by a blindfold and a cigarette.

[tim aka The Godless Heathen]

I love these stories of ‘zero tolerance, it’s more like zero tolerance for common sense…(which it seems isn’t common).

It’s all just Liberal double speak. Inclusive means including all except what they deem not worthy. Tolerance means tolerating everything except what they don’t like. Free speech means shutting down the other point of view. Facts are what you believe to be the truth but not necessarily what actually is. Hope/Change…I haven’t figured out yet but I think it has something to do with doing the opposite of what you say and not being responsible for problems brought upon yourself by ignorance, laziness and/or lack of accountability.

Incredibly the very people who brought us zero tolerance can’t meet the criterion themselves. Which is the key to Liberalism, that being ‘I know what’s best for you but I’ll determine what best for me’.

[Dazed]

Just 32 short years ago, when I was in high school, the most heavily armed 15,000 square feet in the State of Michigan was our high school parking lot on the opening day of deer season. Students, teachers and administrators alike went a-huntin' before school, and left their guns in their racks in their pickups to go to class. Amazingly, no one ever shot anything else on two legs. Ever. Huh. I wonder how that happened. Good grief!

[Mommynator]

I was brought up a city kid and had very little if nothing to do with firearms. The first time I was up close and personal was after I married and my husband bought me a rifle and we spent many hours in a gravel pit shooting hundreds of rounds at plastic milk jugs.

It's the familiarity of the weapon, as well as the attitude that it's a TOOL, like a shovel in your trunk, that made for the civilized carry of all those firearms.

When you forbid the things, make it difficult to obtain not only the weapon but the proper training to use it, then you get the gangsta loonies and others who abuse the privilege.

[Instinct]

I was part of JROTC in high school and shooting was one of our qualifications so we had an armory full of rifles and -surprise, surprise - no one was ever shot.

These laws are more about control than they are about protecting anyone.

[Locutisprime]

"It’s all just Liberal double speak. Inclusive means including all except what they deem not worthy. Tolerance means tolerating everything except what they don’t like. Free speech means shutting down the other point of view. Facts are what you believe to be the truth but not necessarily what actually is."

Amen to that!