MI: Legal Gun Carry, Ask a Question, Lockdown a School

AmmoLand –  by Dean Weingarten

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- In an article from wnem.com, when a Michigan school volunteer asked if she could open carry a handgun at the school, the school was put into “Modified Lockdown“.

The article does not say that she was openly carrying a handgun or if she was carrying concealed, either of which were likely legal (depending on the intricacies of Michigan law) only that she asked that the school allow her to do so.  

The video with the story claims that she had a loaded handgun.  The article and the video are vague enough that she might have had a gun in her car, she might have been carrying concealed, she might have been openly carrying,  she might have been asked if she had a gun, or the school authorities might have assumed that she had a gun.

From the article:

Millington Schools Superintendent John Males tells WNEM.com that a woman who is a volunteer with the district went to Kirk Early Elementary and asked to open carry a handgun in the school.

It is what happened next that is truly astounding.  The school was put into “modified lockdown” until the County Prosecutor had determined that the woman was off of school property!

Consider.  School was disrupted simply because a woman asked some authority figure at a school if they could openly carry a handgun there.

The woman is legally allowed to carry with her Michigan Concealed Pistol License (CPL)   Then, the authorities at the school, over reacted to the thought of carrying a gun in a school (unless it is by a government sanctioned authority figure) that they put the school in “Modified Lockdown”.   Apparently they are not able to determine if the threat of a person who asked a question has left school property themselves.   They only allow school to resume when the County Prosecutor determines that the person who asked a question, is not on school property.   A poster on opencarry.org claims that they know the woman in question, and that the wnem.com story is full of inaccuracies.  It is a short story.  Unfortunately, we can only speculate as to what the inaccuracies might be.

Unless there is more to the story, such as a history of mental problems, or threats, in which case one would ask why the woman is allowed to be a volunteer for the school, this is so bizarre as to be something  out of “Franz Kafka novel“.

The woman likely knew that she was not doing anything illegal, immoral or fattening, and was simply asking as a courtesy to the school authorities.   People with concealed carry permits tend to be extremely polite.  I know this from having taught concealed carry permit classes in Arizona for over 15 years.

I can understand the school authorities saying “no, we do not want you openly carrying in the school“.   Bureaucrats tend to be timid creatures when it comes to the potential for public controversy.

But put the school on “Modified Lockdown“?   I wonder if that is anything like  “Double Secret Probation“.

From the article, the school authorities are not releasing any more information.

Side Note: A poll at the article has the question: Do you think law-abiding citizens should be allowed to openly carry handguns in schools? 79% if the respondents answered “Yes”.

©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

About Dean Weingarten;
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973.  He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

Read more: http://www.ammoland.com/2013/12/mi-legally-gun-carry-ask-a-question-lockdown-a-school/#ixzz2oLOF0b2F
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