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Columbus student brings gun to school

dng

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Student Found With Loaded Gun On High School Grounds

Jan 08 2008 6:57PM

blurbschoolgun.jpg




[align=left]COLUMBUS, Ohio - An Africentric High School student was expected to face charges after he allegedly carried a loaded gun on a school bus on Tuesday morning. Police received a call from a guardian that William Robinson (pictured, right) took a gun from his home and was walking to his school bus, 10TV's Tino Ramos reported. Officers notified school administrators and were in place as the bus pulled into the school, police said.
SLIDESHOW: Images From Scene[/align]
[align=left]According to police, Robinson, 15, was confronted by officers as he entered the school and handed the weapon over. A bullet was found inside the gun's chamber, police said. Robinson told officers that he took the gun because of a neighborhood dispute and his intentions were not aimed at the school. The gun belonged to Robinson's grandfather, Rudolph Robinson, 10TV News reported."He knew I had the gun. He's never bothered it before," Rudolph Robinson said. But he said he had a feeling that his grandson took the gun Tuesday morning."This morning he came in and before he went to school...he said, 'I'm so tired let me lie down here for a minute,'" Robinson said. Robinson said his grandson then quickly got up and left for school."I knew he had it for sure so I called police and notified them," he said. "I called the school and notified the principal."[/align]
[align=left]William Robinson was expected to be charged with carrying a concealed weapon to school, Ramos reported. The school was not placed under lockdown because police received enough notice to head off the gun before it entered the school. No students were threatened, Ramos reported.[/align]
[align=left]http://www.10tv.com/?sec=news&story=sites/10tv/content/pool/200801/1853994711.html[/align]
[align=left]I'm glad the grandfather called police. He may have stopped another school shooting,or at leastsaved someone's people's life.[/align]
 

Legba

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Still, rather poor judgment on the part of this "Africentric" youth. He ought to be glad to just be up on a CCW charge and not indicing panic/making a terroristic threat/federal school zone stuff. A 1st-offender juvenile who didn't actually use the gun can expect some kind of diversion program at sentencing. If he plays well with others and goes to bullshit meetings for a year or so, he may ultimately walk away without a record and could legally own guns as an adult yet.

-ljp
 

DreQo

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I'm not as familiar with Ohio law (or if this is a federal thing), but wouldn't the guardian be responsible for the fact that a 15 yr old had access to a loaded weapon? Kids make stupid mistakes, and choose the wrong solutions to their problems sometimes...I made some dumb mistakes when I was 15, too. I would think the grandfather should be held accountable for this to some degree, since not only was his firearm accessible to the 15 yr old, but the 15 yr old apparently hadn't learned up to this point that something like this is a baaaad idea.
 

Legba

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I don't know that this rises to the level of a crime on the part of the gun owner. If he explicitly furnished a weapon to a juvenile, then yes, it's a state and federal crime, but if he just negligently left it where the kid could get at it... grey area. I'm sure anyone actually hurt by the kid could attempt some kind of civil tort liability action against the old man, but that would probably require a finding of fact at trial. Not a case with "jury appeal" as they say.

-ljp
 

DreQo

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As far as I knew, at least in MN and NC, simply having a firearm unattended and unlocked where a minor in the housecould access it was illegal, regardless of intentions. This is based on the theory that a 15 yr old isn't mature enough to have unrestricted access to a firearm all the time.

I'm not saying I agree with the law, I'm just expressing my understanding of it.
 

wackjob

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From the article it appears to me that he carried the gun for defensive purposes, which may be legal as an affirmative defence to carrying concealed without a licence. The fact that a round was chambered may be evidence to the contrary, or else he just didn't know any better. I am assuming that it is a handgun, although the article does not specify.
 

Legba

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No way a juvenile caught armed on school grounds can beat this. The affirmative defense under Ohio law only applies to "a weapon other than a handgun and other than a dangerous ordnance" in any case (http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2923.12, section D). So, you can carry a riot shotgun, a machete, or a semi-auto rifleunder your trenchcoat if you have a compelling security reason (not to school in any event), but no concealed handguns without a permit, unless you are in your own residence (or an LEO or state employee acting in an official capacity, blah, blah...).

-ljp
 

cilcannonvryce

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I am glad nobody was hurt, that is what is important. Hopefully he and other young kids learn a lesson from this. I also hope they don't punish him to hard and mess up his life. Moreover, I think they should educate him and try themselves to understand why he took the gun to school in the first place. Situations like this rarely turn out non-violent, it may be benificial to try and make the most out of it.
 

vmathis12019

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Legba wrote:
I don't know that this rises to the level of a crime on the part of the gun owner. If he explicitly furnished a weapon to a juvenile, then yes, it's a state and federal crime, but if he just negligently left it where the kid could get at it... grey area. I'm sure anyone actually hurt by the kid could attempt some kind of civil tort liability action against the old man, but that would probably require a finding of fact at trial. Not a case with "jury appeal" as they say.

-ljp
I don't think that having a firearm in a house with a 15 year old could be considered negligent. It was obviously an intentional act on the part of the offender to hide the fact that he had the gun. He knew what he was doing was wrong. It's not mine or anyone else's responsibility to lock our guns away. I believe in keeping them away from children, but a 15 year old falls into a definite gray area, and for me, is of a proper age to remove responsibility from the grandfather.
 

PT111

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I think this would be a good court case for a 2A challenge on both the ageand school carry restriction. He was in fear and trying to protect himself, the same reasons we all carry. Should he not have the same rights as anyone else? He did not appear to have a record or any mental problems so his only violations were age and carrying on school property. Both of these are discussed quite frequently onhere as things that need to be changed.
 

DreQo

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PT111 wrote:
I think this would be a good court case for a 2A challenge on both the ageand school carry restriction. He was in fear and trying to protect himself, the same reasons we all carry. Should he not have the same rights as anyone else? He did not appear to have a record or any mental problems so his only violations were age and carrying on school property. Both of these are discussed quite frequently onhere as things then need to be changed.

You do bring up a very good point. It's easy to shrug this off as some troubled kid in a bad neighborhood being stupid with a gun, but we do need to remember that he is another person just like you and I.

I personally don't think that it's safe to assume that all 15 yr olds are mature enough to make the right decision with a firearm, though. At the same time, I do not believe that any government can determine that, either. Imight consider a law that allowed minors to possess firearms with their parent's permission, and if they did something wrong, the parents would get just as much punishment as the child. This would support responsible parenting and education FROM the parents.
 

color of law

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Remember, the grandfather called the minute he found the firearm missing. This is why we have talked about keeping the firearm on our person at home or locked up if children are in the home.

The grandfather did not let it go like some would. His action deserves credit for acting promptly.
 

openryan

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I don't think the grandfather was one bit negligent, he took the proper steps in calling the police, even being that the theif was his own grandson, this man deserves credit for his prompt and proper actions that some would be hesitant to take.

This "youth" obviously knew of the location of the firearm, and gained access to it. I don't think just because there is a minor in the house that it should be locked up, after all, if you need quick access, a safe, or lock is only going to slow you down. The youth knew what he was doing, and albeit that he probably thought that his actions at the time were reasonable, ultimately the youth needs to be held accountable. The grandfather was very timely and responsible in his actions of noticing the unusual behavior and reporting the events to law enforcement.

Although the youths intentions may not have been directed at the direct entity of the schools itself, but at an individual with whom he maintained a dispute with, this could have very well taken place within the school, and if his judgement was poor enough to take the firearm in the first place, who knows what would have happened had this confrontation taken place during classes.

I realize we all make mistakes from time to time, especially so when we are young and dumb. I am curious if the grandfather had ever taken the youth shooting or educated on firearms beyond the point of just instructing him not to handle the weapon...?
 
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