Griffith HS Student Forgets to Disarm Before Going to Class

[HoughMade]

When I was in 5th grade, a friend of mine went as a hillbilly for Halloween and wore his whole costume to school- including a beat-up double-barrel shotgun (non-operable). We all used to wear leather sheaths on our belts with lock back knives.

It isn't 1982 any more.

 

[BigRed]

Police: Griffith High School student faces felony charge after accidentally bringing loaded gun into school | Crime and Courts | nwitimes.com

Looks like he done goofed

I wonder if this will impact this young man's willingness to talk with and trust law enforcement authorities in the future.

 

[GIJEW]

Discretion isn't exercised at any level because nobody wants to be accountable, so we end with stories of insanely willful stupidity--like a child getting suspended for chewing a pop-tart into an L shape.

 

[ATM]

...But how do you forget something like that? I find that so hard to understand.

When there is nothing inherently wrong with having a gun or some other item on your person, crossing an arbitrary and imaginary boundary of prohibition with it doesn't automatically register until something causes you to notice the item and remember that it is forbidden.

Most folks will acclimate to carrying and get beyond the constant conscious awareness of its presence they may have had when they first began. After a while, they become more aware of its absence than its presence.

 

[BigRed]

Yep.

 

[Mark 1911]

When there is nothing inherently wrong with having a gun or some other item on your person, crossing an arbitrary and imaginary boundary of prohibition with it doesn't automatically register until something causes you to notice the item and remember that it is forbidden.

Most folks will acclimate to carrying and get beyond the constant conscious awareness of its presence they may have had when they first began. After a while, they become more aware of its absence than its presence.

I understand your point. I carry almost all the time when I am not at work, so I understand forgetting about the fact that it's there. In fact, when I realize that I HAVE forgotten I get a little pissed at myself because to me it means that in a sense I have let my guard down.

Obviously we don't live in an ideal world, especially when it comes to the state of carry laws in our country. For about 30 years now I have worked around nuclear generating stations. For four years before that I worked on nuclear submarines. We all have to understand the consequences of our actions, as nonsensical as they may seem to us. I have known people who "forgot" that they had a gun in their briefcase or backpack and sent it through the x-ray machine at the access point to the plant. I knew one of those folks quite well, we were friends and daily co-workers. He will never work in nuclear again. I'm just saying that I can not afford to forget something like that, I just cant.

My very first day at a nuclear plant was in 1989. I didn't have unescorted access so I had to meet a co-worker who did, who was to act as my escort that day. I had already entered the access facility but had not gone through the metal detectors just yet. As I was preparing to go through the detectors I did a quick pat-down of my own pockets. I had worn an army field jacket that day, the same jacket I had worn the previous weekend when I went pheasant hunting with a buddy. My eyes got rather large as I realized what I had "forgotten", and told my escort I would be "right back". I headed for the door and he asked "where are you going"? All I could say is "I'll be right back", as I ran to my car to empty my pockets of the 12 gauge shells that I left in my pocket. And that is exactly what the guy in the OP's article should have done.

If I had gone through the detector with those shells in my pocket I would have had a totally different 30 years since then. Is it fair? Hell no. Does it make sense? No. But that is my life, and nobody is responsible for that one except for me.

 

[ATM]

I understand your point. I carry almost all the time when I am not at work, so I understand forgetting about the fact that it's there. In fact, when I realize that I HAVE forgotten I get a little pissed at myself because to me it means that in a sense I have let my guard down...

I get that, but only in the sense of guarding yourself from the repercussions of violating a statute or policy.

Keeping my guard up against the sorts of threats I actually carry a gun for does not require constant awareness of the gun on my person. I doubt I'll even consider if it is there when I attempt to deploy it, my awareness should be focused elsewhere. If it isn't there in that moment, I may instinctively draw air from where it belonged, but I should have been more aware of its absence and already identified other alternatives.

 

[lonehoosier]

School official: Griffith student arrested on felony charges after bringing gun to high school could also be expelled School official: Griffith student arrested on felony charges after bringing gun to high school could also be expelled | Crime and Courts | nwitimes.com

“The school resource officer took Robertson into custody and seized his .38-caliber Glock Model 42.”

 

[HoughMade]

School official: Griffith student arrested on felony charges after bringing gun to high school could also be expelled School official: Griffith student arrested on felony charges after bringing gun to high school could also be expelled | Crime and Courts | nwitimes.com
“The school resource officer took Robertson into custody and seized his .38-caliber Glock Model 42.”

Leaving off a single “0” counts as highly accurate reporting in this realm.

 

[Somemedic]

School official: Griffith student arrested on felony charges after bringing gun to high school could also be expelled | Crime and Courts | nwitimes.com

So... let's give him a felony and expel him as well. That'll show him

 

[Lwright]

Let's hope for jury nullification.

 

[Hookeye]

What about the Kokomo High School kid that took a pic of him holding a handgun in the bathroom?

 

[BigRed]

Let's hope for jury nullification.

Some lawyers may say jury nullification is not fair.... that it is the jury's job to determine guilt or innocence according to the application of the code.


Meh.... I am a huge fan of it. In some situations, it may be the final safeguard against an overreaching government.


I'm with you.... if this young man ends up on trial for this, I hope there is a jury with more wisdom than those choosing to prosecute him for it.

 

[HoughMade]

Let's hope for jury nullification.

This will never see a jury.

 

[BigRed]

This will never see a jury.

Likely correct.

I wonder what he will have to plead to and what will end up on his record though.

I also wonder how it will impact the young man's view of confiding in a law enforcement officer in the future.

 

[Rookie]

Of course he'll be expelled. One of the "benefits" of zero tolerance.

 

[Dead Duck]

Of course he'll be expelled. One of the "benefits" of zero tolerance.

What do knives have to do with this?

 

[Cameramonkey]

When I was in 5th grade, a friend of mine went as a hillbilly for Halloween and wore his whole costume to school- including a beat-up double-barrel shotgun (non-operable). We all used to wear leather sheaths on our belts with lock back knives.

It isn't 1982 any more.

Today you'll get expelled for doing that with a double barrel Nerf gun. One of the many reasons we homeschool.

What do knives have to do with this?

Because knives are banned too! Duhhhh!

 

[rhino]

It's interesting how location and timing can affect how things are resolved.

When Scott Newman was Marion Co prosecutor, there were at least two times he specifically chose to not prosecute someone for having a gun on school grounds because they had a valid License to Carry Handgun (as reported by the television news). One was the substitute teacher at Broad Ripple who left his trunk unlocked and slightly ajar and some students saw his gun in the trunk and reported it. The other was an 18 year old student who was in class and armed at a different high school, someone reported (must not have been concealed well), etc. The teacher was fired and I don't remember what happened to the student, but neither was prosecuted.

 

[LP1]

As they say in politics, the optics of this aren't good. And his timing was terrible.

Really should have known better than to have it on school property - in car or on his person. I can understand how someone who carries regularly can forget they have it, but I'm assuming that he was going to school every day, so it should have been top-of-mind.

Without knowing him personally, it's impossible to judge whether or not it was just a dumb mistake. And woe to the person who gives him a pass if doing so later turns out to be a mistake.