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Student brings handgun to Onalaska High School

Tweety

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Let's wait on the actual charges. These are just the charges recommended by the police.

+ 1000
Besides, let them go with not charging the GFSZ violation as it will make great reference when someone else may be defending themselves for a GFSZ violation.

For example, your out walking your dog at night and inadvertently enter the GFSZ. You get charged with a GFSZ violation. You would have a great argument in court that you should not be charged with a GFSZ violation when police did not charge this student with a GFSZ violation and he deliberately brought the gun to school and who knows for what reason?
 

HolyOrangeJuice

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Sep 26, 2010
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AZ
What about that incident with the 15yr old kid who held up his class and then eventually shot himself. Just a few weeks before that i told my grandmother i believed that college students should be allowed to carry and all teachers should be allowed to carry and she called me nuts...now she doesn't think im all that crazy :p
 

johnny amish

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What about that incident with the 15yr old kid who held up his class and then eventually shot himself. Just a few weeks before that i told my grandmother i believed that college students should be allowed to carry and all teachers should be allowed to carry and she called me nuts...now she doesn't think im all that crazy :p

I could not agree more.
College students and teachers should be allowed to carry. We have seen far to often that evil does lurk in schools and the GFSZ only creates a gun free victim zone.
 

MKEgal

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in front of my computer, WI
If the gun were unloaded & encased, he couldn't be charged with the GFSZ "violation", nor with improper transport (assuming he came to school in a car or bus). Could explain why they didn't throw those at him. [See 948.605 (2)b3(a) for the unloaded & encased GFSZ exception.]

And if it was encased & they do keep the CCW charge, maybe this will finally be the test case to delineate (sp?) between concealed & encased. (Which is one reason the DA didn't charge me with CCW. He didn't want it to be a test case.)

He could, however, be charged with 948.60 - "posession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18" (a misdemeanor).

I don't think the DC charge should be on him (all he did was show another kid some ammo; there's no report that he displayed the gun nor threatened anyone), nor do I think that he needed to be held in jail for a couple of non-violent misdemeanors.

Although if that were me, I think maybe a couple nights for my parents to cool down before I went home with them would be a Very Good Idea, & I'd still expect to be eating standing up for a day or so. (That being said, I regularly carried & used a pocketknife at school, in full view of teachers, and nobody ever said boo. These days even that is enough for police involvement & a suspension.)

His parents are probably also considering the benefits of a gun safe, and making sure the kid doesn't know the combo or where the key is until he's had some training & shown better judgment.
 
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CUOfficer

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Feb 19, 2010
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La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
I really doubt this is going to be viewed as a "gun rights" case where the student or his parents will be challenging the GFSZ law. It would be political suicide for someone to take up that case on his behalf. What is the problem with these kids? I have to wonder why he would do such a thing after the other recent incident. Then the article goes on to state that the kid didn't think it would be a big deal.
 

Nutczak

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And what really bother me about this story?
At what point did the police have the probable cause to search every other students private property?

They can legally search lockers without PC because they are school property, but backpacks even while contained in a school locker are off-limits without a warrant, Probable cause, or permission from the property owner.,
 

lockman

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Elgin, Illinois, USA
Besides, let them go with not charging the GFSZ violation as it will make great reference when someone else may be defending themselves for a GFSZ violation.
QUOTE]

+1
We would all agree the GFSZ is unconstitutional, why would we want unconstitutional charges brought against this teen?

Force him to be a test case. But the authorities do no want a test case they just want the treat of a felony to use as a tool of repression. Such cases were the offender also has violated a bunch of other laws and regulations is usually not the best case to put forward as a test.
 

Motofixxer

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I read the authorities were alerted that the kid had a gun with him, which by possession by a minor, I believe to be probable cause. As for the other students backpacks etc...I don't think they had any legal ground. I don't have much of a problem with the lockers, cuz it is well known and stated they will can and will search them. But the personal belongings in them...should qualify under property protected by the Constitution. But who is there to stop them from rummaging through it all. Certainly not the students who probably don't know the protection under the Constitution cuz it's not really taught, and they were locked up in a classroom.
 
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bnhcomputing

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Krusty

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Jul 11, 2010
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Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
I still think this student meant no harm, although he did know these actions were illegal. I also believe we have just too many laws on the books. We all know that multiple firearms laws are completely ineffective and only serve to penalize the otherwise honest, law abiding person. The State might as well author a law forbidding temperature below 35 degrees for all the good it will do. And we don't need multiple laws on that either.

Charge him for the GFSZ violation if you insist he be charged with a felony at 15. But maybe the possession of a dangerous weapon as a minor would be more appropriate.
 

Tweety

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IMHO we wouldn't have these types of situations if students were taught about firearms in school. Firearms are a fact of life. These anti gun zealots might just as well get used to it.
I am not so sure I agree with this kid being charged with a felony at 15. No where does the story say he had any intention of hurting anyone. What is this world coming to?
 

Crassus

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Dec 7, 2010
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why?
No charges for carrying a concealed weapon? Something smells foul here.

They are probably becoming afraid to bring ccw charges against people in certain cases because they are worried they could lose the case. I think a DC or a minor in possession charge is sufficient but it will ultimately fall down to whether or not there are and how many Anti's are involved in this case.
 
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