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Fed law vs State law

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ptmmatssc

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
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Location
, Maine, USA
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Ok , here's my question . My state has a law on the books that makes it illegal to carry on school property . The fed law is , can't have a firearm within 1000' of a school . If I'm attending a town fair that is held on the adjacent property to the town school , does the fed law kick in , or do I only need to worry about the state law ? Who enforces the fed law? Can the local PD enforce or does it have to be a fed agent? The school happens to be within 1000' of the fair , but it is 2 seperate properties (1 school property, 2 town property) . Any ideas how this would work?
 
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Mike

Site Co-Founder
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Fairfax County, Virginia, USA
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What state?

Fed. school gun ban, struck down in Lopez, was reenacted by Congress and not necessarily valid; regardless, 18 USC 922(q) has a 100% exemption for permit holders holding permits issued by the state in which the school sits.
 
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ptmmatssc

Regular Member
Joined
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Messages
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Location
, Maine, USA
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Thanks . Went and read the fed law and seems I'm good to go . Have a CCW permit so I am covered.
 
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apjonas

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You're good to go to jail if you are not careful. I don't understand why people are so confused about this topic (not saying you are - I pick this up from other posts). Here you have two levels of government and two laws. Let us assume (as courts usually do at the start) that the laws are constitutional. The federal law has a prohibition. It also has an exception - to the federal law. The federal law has NO, REPEAT, NO impact on state law. If it is illegal to carry within X feet of a school/at a school (even with a permit), the federal law does not give you an out. Now I understand that your state says "on school property" and that the activity is off of school property. But a lot of people seem to believe that the federal permit exception somehow trumps state and local law. It doesn't. Just make sure you don't cross the line (literally). And don't forget the federal exception is only for permits issued by the state in which you are located (reciprocity/recognition doesn't count).

As to the other issues - theoretically any LEO can enforce any applicable law. OC is certainly going to be an attention magnet. I won'tsuggest CC because it causes some people to foam at the mouth. 1000 feet is 1000 feet (or 304.8 meters) and "seperate" is "separate.":celebrate



ptmmatssc wrote:

Ok , here's my question . My state has a law on the books that makes it illegal to carry on school property . The fed law is , can't have a firearm within 1000' of a school . If I'm attending a town fair that is held on the adjacent property to the town school , does the fed law kick in , or do I only need to worry about the state law ? Who enforces the fed law? Can the local PD enforce or does it have to be a fed agent? The school happens to be within 1000' of the fair , but it is 2 seperate properties (1 school property, 2 town property) . Any ideas how this would work?
Click to expand...
 
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ptmmatssc

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
Messages
18
Location
, Maine, USA
imported post

I wasn't worried about the state law . I'm not going on school property . My concern was the 1000' federal law , which is actually more stringent than the state law . I have no intention of 'crossing the line" . And yes ,i understand what you're saying . I should be OK , especially since the local PD know me and I'm a local , not from away . Actually , they see me open carry about town don't bother me about it , so most likely it won't be "out of the norm" to see me carrying at the fair .
 
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