Yes, it did happen in South Dakota. Youth Hunter expelled for year.
From the Argus Leader/Associated Press:
The Sioux Falls School Board has expelled a student for one year for bringing a weapon to school.
A school resource officer found a shotgun in the trunk of a car at Washington High School. The 17-year-old student said he forgot the gun in his car after going pheasant hunting. Police said the gun was not loaded and there was no ammunition in the vehicle.
What kids used to do all the time when I was growing up, now earns you a years’ expulsion from school.
I’m not a bird hunter, because no one besides me will eat them at home, but this just staggers the imagination. way back when, in junior high school, they’d regularly advertise the hunter safety course and encourage kids to take it.
Now, if you road hunt on the way to or from school and keep a shotgun in the trunk, you risk the ruination of your high school career.
That’s what we’ve come to.
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Comments
PP and TD We must have grown up in a different time. for me this was the norm as well, we were taught to respect firearms, not fear them.
However the school board may have it hands tied. Per the quote in the keloland story:http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=93417
“Federal and state law requires any student found with a firearm on campus to be expelled from school for a year, and that’s exactly what the Sioux Falls School Board did after a student was found with a gun. ”
More than likely some kid made a stupid mistake, like some kids do, only he has to pay for it, dearly.
When I was in high school, football players were required to have first period free and we had open campus. We used first period to watch film, lift weights, and go over the game plan.
After the season was over, many of us started going goose hunting before school. Many a morning we’d come back to school in my buddies old suburban, jump out of his vehicle and run to our cars with geese and shotguns in hand.
Many teachers, administration officials, and fellow students in their first period class watched our regular chinese fire drill as we tried to into the school before class started. All day long people made comments on how well we did because they could see if we were carrying geese or not.
One of my fellow hunters and I used each others locker. I stored books in his locker for a class near his locker and he did the same. One morning I recall opening his locker and he had his shotgun in his locker.
When I asked him why he had it there, Joe said, “When I got out of Jeff’s truck I realized my car was in the shop and I was almost late for class so I had no choice.”
While I recognize that times are different, zero tolerance are policies imposed because the “law giver” thinks people are idiots or the “law giver” himself is an idiot and unable to exercise judgment.
My hope is reason asserts itself and the penalty is voided (the feds can choose to sue if they dare) or the kid is allowed to enroll either in another SFalls public school, enroll in a nearby school, or O’Gorman/Sioux Falls Christian has the ability to accept him for school. This policy and its enforcement is absurd. Idiots should have no say in setting education policy. Period.
Wow! I think there should be some kind of probation if something must be done but to expell a good kid for a mistake is exactly the way liberals work.
If this child is as innocent as we assume, the school board should have some brains to do the “right” thing. This kid could be a trouble maker and could have had the gun in the car just in case.
If the no gun policy would have been in place when I was in school, I would have been banned for lifetimes, we went duck hunting after school every day until the time changed.
Hopefully the School Board made the correct decision.
Well, I was going to make a comment about how my friends and I always kept shotguns and ammo in our cars so we could go hunting after class; but then I read Troy’s comment about storing a shotgun in your locker, and I just can’t one up that. Very old school. Zero tolerance is out of hand, there should be no black and white on issues such as this. An honest mistake doing harm to your life is not fair, especially for young people who are trying to learn to be responsible adults. How did they get in his trunk anyway?
Well Pickles, zero tolerance policies do not come from liberals. They are in the same category as mandatory minimums. They come from ‘law and order’ types who are usually conservative. Sorry to ruin your day.
As was elluded to above, the first problem is the Fed’s application of laws that were written primarily to combat gang activity in cities like chicago, not rural cities like SF/RC. There has to be some mitigation provisions in that Fed reg. Idiotic. Apply the rules based upon the facts. All out applications of rules never work.
Anon 10:44:
Zero tolerance and manadatory sentence policies come from “statists” of both political persuasions and are opposed by “Civil libertarians” of both political persuasions.
Statists desire to reform and remake society according to their world view with little regard to the principals of individual freedom, discretion, etc.
Statist liberals have been at the forefront of many zero tolerance issues. Much of the federal gun laws and this one in particular was pushed by statist liberal groups such as NEA and gun control crowd. Liberals own this one.
Statist liberals and are sometimes united with Statist conservatives. Raising the drinking age to 21 is one such example.
Statist conservatives own their own too. The recently proposed ban on divorce in California is an example.
Liberty and freedom in the United States for many conservatives and liberals (statists) is an afterthought at best and sometimes just a tool to obtain their agenda.
Civil Libertarians of both political outlooks are the only ones who recoil at a loss of individual liberty and freedom.
I wonder what caused somebody to be looking in his trunk and finding a shotgun – there must be more to this story. But the absurdity of not using discretion is very real. Watertown’s Community rec center shares a parking lot and walls with the school. I believe that if you have shotgun shells in your pickup when you go to work out, you are committing a crime!
Good Point, Lee. Why were they looking in the trunk of his car anyways? Was there a search of all vehicles on the property?
I agree with Lee, there has to be more to this story than meets the eye. What is the reasoning for searching the vehicle? They should examine the legitimacy of the individual’s claim of pheasant hunting and previous run-ins with the law.
Pat this is a story I hope you follow and provide the readers with more information if it becomes available. I am like many on here, I would certainly been expelled from all four years of high school as I carried a gun in the trunk on occasion to go hunting after school. I don’t like “gun” legislation on a federal level because South Dakotan’s get handed the same laws as major urban areas. States should be largely responsible for legislating and monitoring “gun” legislation in my opinion. Hunting and the usage of guns are part of our way of life in South Dakota.
I think the reasoning behind the search and other important information regarding the situation is needed before we can come to a conclusion in this situation. I look forward to hearing more about it.
Like others of you, I would be interested in knowing why someone was looking in his trunk. Maybe he told someone he had it and was told on? I don’t know. I will see if my daughter has any scuttlebutt on this. I also agree this is something that a little discretion would apply here, but probably not able to. So Bill would sue the school district when their hands are tied. Good thinking there. BTW, if you ever read Joe Foss’ autobiography, you would find he routinely kept his shotgun in his locker at WHS, the same school the kid was expelled from.
duggersd, I think when someone violates your constitutional rights you should sue them, don’t you? Hands tied or no.
From what I just heard, the kid had his sterio blaring, someone came over (school official, I do not know), saw hunting vest in the car and one thing lead to another and the shotgun was found in the trunk.
So Bill, which Constitutional right are you talking about? Second amendment? Due process? Here is the problem, if the law is as we believe it to be, that he HAD to receive that punishment and there are no ifs, ands, or buts, about it, then sure he can sue, but on what basis? If it is a federal law, then they should be suing the federal government, not the school district.
Bill, thanks for proving my point. Civil Libertarians on both sides of the spectrum think the same way. 
Duh, that is about what I heard too with additional “perspective” that he was a bit lippy.
Now, let’s just assume the worst.
1) The kid was a borderline juvenile delinquent. (Assumption I have no information to say this is true or untrue)
2) He was extremely disrespectful to the school official especially when the official wanted him to open his trunk. (Assumption as I just heard he didn’t exactly acknowledge the officials authority to have him turn down his stereo and search the car)
One assumption isn’t warranted by the facts as we know them: He intended to use the gun on his fellow students (he had no ammunition).
Does anyone think it a good idea to remove a budding juvenile delinquent from school and his best chance to have a productive life? Does anyone think it a good idea that we give this kid time to get in trouble and end up in the pen?
P.S. I understand the constitutionality to prohibit bringing guns into public access buildings. However, I’m not so sure I accept the constitutionality to restrict having a gun in your personal car. The courts have held that private cars are private and by extention part of one’s body protected from non-warranted searches and seizures.
This is even more pertinent that we have a law that requires juveniles to attend school. Bill, I’d sue their patootey too.
Even my non-hunting wife who hates guns thought this was an outrageous result for the young man. There needs to be some common sense in these situation. Unloaded gun. Hunting vest. No shells. Kid is a hunter. Slap him with some detention or a short term suspension. This is punishment that far exceeds the offense.
Let’s hope Pam Homan commutes his sentence.
And I too grew up when kids had shotguns and rifles in their cars and trucks at school because they were coming or going from hunting. But we do live in a different time where students have used guns in school massacres.
Obviously the Sioux Falls School Board has no hunters as members as KELOLAND reported it only took them 4 minutes to seal the kid’s fate. They could have at least agonized about their decision for at least ten minutes. This is a major decision in the kid’s life.
And what if they didn’t suspend him? What would the feds do to the school system? Does anyone know? I’m guessing the feds are just a big boogey man and nothing would have happened had a lesser punishment been issued.
Perhaps my friends at the NRA should get involved. And yes, I am a member. Like all my children, I love all the Amendments to the US Constitution equally. 
Todd Epp
Accoding to the keloland story….
http://keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=92989
Police say the school resource officer and another staff member approached the 17-year-old boy at 12:10 p.m. Thursday to speak with him about loud music coming from his car.
They noticed hunting gear in the car and then found a 16-gauge shotgun.
The student said he had been hunting recently and forgot about the gun. It was not loaded, there was no ammunition in the car and no threats were made……….
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that:
“ The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Since when does having hunting gear constitue a search of ones car? I think the gun was locked in the trunk and out of visible site.
“It’s unfortunate that he forgot he had it with him, but you have to remember the law is there for a reason. It’s there to protect people and he might not of had any intent on using it, but if somebody else found it, they might have some other plans for the weapon” Sioux Falls Police Officer Sam Clemens said.
I repeat….
“but if somebody else found it, they might have some other plans for the weapon”
Sioux Falls Police Officer Sam Clemens said.
I can’t beleive the SFPD said that.
This police officer just said that I am responsible for someones actions if he takes my gun or property….SERIOUSLY
If someone else takes the weapon with out my permission… then this is theft….if somone walked into my house or broke in to may car and took a gun am i RESPONIBLE for that persons actions and what he does with that gun..NO!
If someone takes my car and crashes it into a family after a high speed chase am I responsible for the criminals actions?
What would happen if I was on school grounds with a baseball bat, and some kid took it and hit someone with it, then am i responsible for him using this as a weapon? “but if somebody else found it, they might have some other plans for the weapon”
Sorry about my rant but seriously people….i hope this goes to court.
Yeah, Troy, this is how we end up with the ACLU sticking up for um… guys… like Larry Flint and Rush Limbaugh. (So, how’s that for restraint, TJ? I almost typed “dirtbags.”)
TTodd – I have seen you shoot – the only person in a dangerous place around you and a firearm is the operator. If you pulled a trigger in a barn, I’d give even money that you’d miss the barn
As for the officer saying that he didn’t know what somebody else would do with it, unless they do magic – all the firearms I own have to have ammunition to fire! It now is functionally as dangerous as his tire iron! (and less dangerous than the golf team – who are each carrying 13 or 14 weapons of the same functional gauge or caliber)
Took four minutes. Prima facie case the school board will not stand up for kids. Wish I didn’t live in Harrisburg District so I could vote against the entire lot.
I wonder if Todd has the same issue I do with a shoulder weapon. I’m left handed and right eyed. Maybe if I wore an eye patch… naaah, never mind.
(Psst, TE, don’t tell Lee that lots of us Buddhists miss on purpose.)
Todd has an interesting point. What would the Feds do if the board simply said no. Not much they could do.
Just heard on the radio that the school board has discretion to shorten the length of expulsion. How about from Christmas Eve through New Years Day? That looks like a year on paper.
What I cannot believe is that the gun was not loaded nor was there any ammo. in the vehicle according to what I have heard and read. Would a knife, a rope, and screw driver, or a baseball bat then not be just as,if not more harmful, as a weapon? That unloaded gun would only serve as something you could club someone over the head with. I,too, puzzle over the trunk being open. Did he make past threats to someone, did someone just not like him and provide a tip, or was he a troublemaker that the school wanted to be rid of? We cannot just assume that he was a good kid. Hmmmm…..
you’re right troy. the school board should stand up for the kid, against the feds. but such principle is severely lacking in our country.
too often, we hear the excuse from school boards, city councils, legislatures, and governors that their hands are tied by the feds.
would love to hear a different tune, someday. let the feds try to enforce such stupidity. just let ‘em.
Weapons in the car? Our HS shop teacher was also an amateur gunsmith and 1 or 2 of his students a year would make new stocks for old guns for their final quarter “free project”. I don’t ever remember anyone batting an eyebrow, and my dad even considered bringing in one of our guns to have that done.
That being said, being a West River native and not much of a bird hunter, during deer season my brother and I would have a .243 and a .22-250 in the pickup and after school would spend about a half hour in one of our hay yards to see if anything would wander in.
You can blame the lawyers that run the SF school district. The School board does not make a decision without their approval.
What a great way to create lifetime contempt for the law – among the student, his family and friends.
Jon,
This is actually the very best point made here. It applies to the illegality of young adults to drink to name one.
We now have schools/states pushing anti-bullying laws. Wait until the first time some guy gets forward with a guys girlfriend or disparages her reputation and he gets punched in the face. The guy defending his girlfriend’s honor will get thrown in the hoose gow (spelled right?).
Two of the best lessons I ever learned was when I got knocked on my hind end.
Whatever happened, happened. Hohman better get off her ass and do what’s right and make a decision reducing the suspension. That is, unless she’s just another spineless member of the governmental cog machine(like the school board), which she probably is. If not, sue (4th amendment, civil rights, unconstitutionality issues).
Yup, almost, Troy. “Hoosgow” (one word) is a corruption of the Mexican Spanish “jusgao” meaning “tribunal, or court.” The latin root of course is “just” (i?stitia).
“Wow! I think there should be some kind of probation if something must be done but to expell a good kid for a mistake is exactly the way liberals bureaucrats work.”
Fixed to reflect reality.
with zero tolerance comes zero brains and zero guts to judge each situation on its own.
and another thing—how many people with ill intent stop at the gate and say to themselves, “gee, I think I will change my mind cuz they have a rule about guns on the property?” This whole knee jerk mentality brought on us by the pathetic, whiney ass liberals is really starting to annoy me.
I have to agree with you on this one. Unfortunately when there is a zero-tolerance policy that is what you get! I don’t know if the school board will look at reviewing the policy, but I’m sure they were pressured by over-protective and over-zealous parents to implement the zero-tolerance policy and to keep it.
I also remember students coming to school with their shotguns hanging from their gun racks in the back of their trucks. I guess its a different age…