The original headline was a real zinger: "Indiana House Panel To Debate Banning Gun Buybacks" and it is still preserved in the URL.
Eventually someone realized the same bill clears up an odd glitch in the carry-permit exception for guns at schools and rewrote to reflect it. The law presently provides, other than for "school resource officers," that one may only have a firearm on school property if one "...possesses the firearm in a motor vehicle that is being operated by the person to transport another person to or from a school or a school function." Got that? If Mr. and Mrs. Spouse are picking up little Billy and Sue after the school play and Mrs. Spouse is driving, she'd also better be the only one carrying -- and if she spots Mrs. Neighbor, she can't park the car and lock up her sidearm in it to go have a chat, either. (That shotgun the trunk is a no-no, too; you can probably argue "possession" but you still can't stop the car and get out, as you'd no longer be "operating." The gun on Mr. Spouse's belt as he sits in the passenger seat trying to refrain from criticism, is, alas, inarguably in his possession.)
The predictable commenters are arguing this in the predictable fashion. Me, I just want them to make it uniform with the "guns in your car at work" law, which requires you to leave firearms locked in your vehicle. (Your employer is free to adopt less-restrictive policies but the operant theory is that your car is something of a rolling bit of real property and if keep your firearm inside it [and out of sight, 'cos ooo, ick, guns], everything is hunky-dory.)
Will it happen? Will gun buybacks get banned? Will J. Random Collector no longer be able to buy a well-preserved sock-drawer Colt 1903 Hammerless for $20 more than the buyback goofs are offering? Will Mrs. Spouse and Mrs. Neighbor ever stop talking with one another in the school parking lot? Stay tuned for our next exciting episode of As The State Legislature Spins! (Brought to by the old soft soap, for the old hard sell.)
It's the same garbage offered against freedom that is always offered by their ilk.
ReplyDeleteThe proposed change sounds a lot like CO's current law. I like CO's version of the gun-at-school laws better than most, but not as much as I like Utah's.
Here's to hoping for some sense to be brought to the members of MDAGSA (what the heck kind of acronym is that?) and they can be brought kicking and screaming into the light.
Sounds a bit like current VA law, without the need to be transporting someone else, and in VA I believe Mr. Spouse would be just fine as long as he stayed in the car, too.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the fun part is if you don't realize you're going to end up on school property. Example: I got pulled over once, and pulled into the nearest parking lot. Once I stopped, I realized that this building I had been driving by every day, without knowing what it was, was in fact the local school system's vocational-technical center. I was on school property, while carrying a firearm.
I'd be fine if I stayed in the car, but what if Officer Friendly "asked" me to get out? Stepping out of the car while possessing my firearm would be a felony, but what's he going to do if I try to tell him that rather than immediately obeying?
Fortunately, I never found out. He wasn't sure he had pulled over the right person, and when I answered his questions he apologized, wished me a good day, and left. But it was a bit nerve-wracking at the time.
Jake -- VA law is anyone, with a valid carry permit, inside a car, with the car somewhere cars are expected to be on school property (i.e., "No muddoggin' in the football field while carrying, Cletus!") may be armed on school grounds.
ReplyDeleteIf you get OUT of your car or do not have a carry permit, the gun needs to be unloaded and secured.
Having a kid in public school AND being on the school board for the last four years, I made sure I understood this law inside and out. (And I carried a cheap lock box in my car 24/7/365, regardless of whether I was armed or planning on going on school grounds, just in case.) :-)
Oh, and complying with a LEOs lawful orders is fine. But I would advise asking him if it was a "request" or an "order", and if necessary, tell him why, if it is a "request".
ReplyDeleteThank God , Texas Law isnt confusing.
ReplyDeleteThe law, TPC 46.03 (1)says " you cannot carry a concealed handgun on school premises".(GKT paraphrase).
But, like the old RONCO ads, there is more....
"Premises" is defined in PC 46.035(f)(3) as "building or portion of a building. The term does not include any public or private driveway, street, sidewalk or walkway,parking lot, parking garage or other parking area"
This wording solves the problem for Mr. and Mrs. Spouse, as well as the parents having a discussion in the parking lot about the new car pool schedules.
You can have a CHL firearm in the school parking lot. It allows you to walk little 5 year old Timmy literally to the schoolhouse door while armed - you just cannot step over the threshold, because the BUILDING is the forbidden premises.
Ya'll might have your Legislature try that one on for size.
Of course, ultimately, we hope to eliminate the "gun free zone" thing, but until then...
Regards
GKT
I've always wanted to do that - take a wad of cash and intercept pristine examples of Colt/Smith/Browning/Winchester before they get to the buyback table. Preferably in plain view of those doing the buyback...
ReplyDelete