ZeroIntelligence.net

Guns not illegal in schools

“The federal Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 defines a firearm as any weapon designed to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive.” That’s a pretty reasonable definition. Schools take that a lot farther, broadening the definition to include BB guns, replicas, toys, even water pistols.

“You don�t look very good when you suspend a third-grader, but you�ve got to consider the safety of 500 students,” said Dave O�Connor, principal of Marston School in Hampton.
…
The Hampstead School District, which suspended two eighth-graders for having a plastic pellet gun and pelting other students on a school bus, has a policy that broadens the federal definition of a weapon to include “any device, object or artifact that has been determined by the Superintendent of Schools to be dangerous … and also determined to have no other legitimate purpose in school.”

The Exeter Region Cooperative School District also has a broad policy prohibiting devices designed to expe* any type of projectile,” whether a lead bullet or rubber suction dart.

Totally disregarding the local definitions, it is an expulsion offense (by federal mandate) to bring a firearm to school. It generally is not a crime though.

Sandown police were frustrated this month when they couldn�t pin criminal charges on a mother who let her son bring an inoperable pistol with him to the Sandown North Elementary School. School officials did suspend the boy until he appears before the Timberlane Regional School Board for a full hearing next month.

“It violated the school policy; it did not violate state law,” said Reams.

And it might surprise many that the reason it doesn’t violate state law is because it was intentional.

John Le Sage, an assistant principal at the Cooperative Middle School in Stratham, participated in a school-safety summit in Concord following the Columbine massacre in 1999. School officials from around the state discussed possible legislation to create legal punishment for bringing a gun to school.

“The people up north got all upset about that,” said Le Sage. “In the fall, half the kids go hunting before school.

“If you do this, the kids just won�t come to school,” he said. “It�s hard to make a rule that covers everything, that�s sort of one size fits all.”

Sarah Browning, special assistant to the state education commissioner, said concerns over hunter�s rights softened the initial gun ban and gave superintendents some leeway in determining appropriate discipline.

So schools turn a blind eye on the rifles in student hunters’ cars and expel the middle school kids who bring a dart gun.