Explain the dos and donts of carrying in school zones please....

[LittleRedToyota]

i agree with chevmeister. i periodically carry (concealed) in schools as well. i am not breaking any laws in doing so.

[TheBuckslayer]

i agree with chevmeister. i periodically carry (concealed) in schools as well. i am not breaking any laws in doing so.

I don't think that the "for other lawful purpose" has had a "legal" outcome in court yet? If you get caught with a gun on school grounds, you will be arrested. You almost certainly will be charged by a DA.

If you have a great lawyer,( and alot of $)I hope the person charged get the charges dismissed. I personally am not taking the chance.

[Steve in PA]

The DA would have to base the reason he is arresting you on his conclusion the ccw'ing is NOT a lawful purpose.

If ccw'ing is NOT a lawful purpose, then what......people with a LTC are doing an unlawful thing????

[Mtbkski]

Any word on the teacher that was fighting this. I know it was on another thread. But I thought it related to this one too.

[TheBuckslayer]

The DA would have to base the reason he is arresting you on his conclusion the ccw'ing is NOT a lawful purpose.

If ccw'ing is NOT a lawful purpose, then what......people with a LTC are doing an unlawful thing????

I agree totally. But with Pa residents getting LTCF revoked for open carry (gnbrotz, completely different circumstances) It is not worth the risk IMO. If we have Sheriff's doing actions like this, I wouldn't want to be at the receiving end of getting caught with a gun in a school.

I am just thinking of a school function where a parent is at ( say a school theater play with a few hundred people attending), the parent is CCW, and someone sees it sticking out. Another person, yells " OMG he's got a gun."

[Steve in PA]

The issue is that carrying a weapon on school groups has the "for other lawful purpose" built into it........its in black and white.

I haven't heard anything about the female who was supposedly charged with having a weapon on school property. I think it was down Philly way?? It should have gone to trial by now if they were pushing it. Since there has been no news.....I'm willing to bet the reason is they know they can't prosecute for the very same reason I have stated, the courts will have to rule stating, ccw'ing is NOT a lawful purpose in order for them to win.

Which brings us back to what I said..........if its not a lawful purpose then we have a bunch of citizens legally and properly licensed by the State doing an unlawful thing with the State's permission.

I've posted the story on here before about the police being called to a campus. Actually, its the very same campus I posted about where the female was approached by a male, Luzerne County Community College.

A male student was found to have a weapon on campus. The school called the police, the police came and said the male had a permit. He did nothing wrong. The police then left.

We don't know what the constable said in his letter to the sheriff. He could have said the guy threatened to pull his gun, etc.

I could write a letter to a sheriff stating someone did this or that.....the sheriff doesn't know if I'm lying.....or telling the truth. But to cover his ass, the sheriff will probably revoke the license until there is a hearing or something.

With a weapon on school property, we have a clear, black and white issue.

With the constable, we don't.

[rwilson452]

The last I heard the DA charged her with some sort of trespass. wouldn't touch the gun charge for reasons that have been stated. Mot likely the DA didn't want to start a long drawn out court battle that woud set a precedent.

[LittleRedToyota]

I don't think that the "for other lawful purpose" has had a "legal" outcome in court yet? If you get caught with a gun on school grounds, you will be arrested. You almost certainly will be charged by a DA.

If you have a great lawyer,( and alot of $)I hope the person charged get the charges dismissed. I personally am not taking the chance.

i will not let the government intimidate me into not doing things i have a legal right to do.

i'm not going looking for confrontation with the government, but i won't be intimidated either.

if i get arrested for carrying in a school (which would be my mom's school...in st. marys...where i likely actually would not be arrested or prosecuted because it is a small hunting town), i'll fight it tooth and nail in court.

of course, it's not likely anyone will ever even know i am doing it...concealed is concealed.

[TwistedCopper]

Okay, so make it clear for a dummy like me that needs things spelled out...

If I take my kid to, let's say, football practice at the local public high school, and I am carrying concealed and have my LTCF on my person then I am breaking no law?

Apparently I have been not carrying there for nuttin'

[LittleRedToyota]

Okay, so make it clear for a dummy like me that needs things spelled out...

If I take my kid to, let's say, football practice at the local public high school, and I am carrying concealed and have my LTCF on my person then I am breaking no law?

Apparently I have been not carrying there for nuttin'

below is the section of PA law dealing with carrying on school property:

§912. Possession of Weapon on School Property.

(a) Definition.—Notwithstanding the definition of “weapon” in section 907 (relating to possessing instruments of crime), “weapon” for purposes of this section shall include but not be limited to any knife, cutting instrument, cutting tool, nun-chuck stick, firearm, shotgun, rifle and any other tool, instrument or implement capable of inflicting serious bodily injury.

(b) Offense defined.—A person commits a misdemeanor of the first degree if he possesses a weapon in the buildings of, on the grounds of, or in any conveyance providing transportation to or from any elementary or secondary publicly-funded educational institution, any elementary or secondary private school licensed by the Department of Education or any elementary or secondary parochial school.

(c) Defense—It shall be a defense that the weapon is possessed and used in conjunction with a lawful supervised school activity or course or is possessed for other lawful purpose.

as you can see, it clearly states that it shall be a defense that the weapon is possessed for a lawful purpose. and, if you don't redefine words along the way, concealed carrying with an LTCF is legal...and, therefore, a "lawful purpose".

now, i am in no way saying you will definitely not get arrested, charged, prosecuted, or convicted if you are "caught" carrying on school grounds. the unfortunate truth is that LEOs, DAs, judges, and juries have all been known to disregard the law.

however, according to the letter of the law, if you do get arrested all you should have to do is go to court, present your LTCF, state "it is my defense that i possessed the weapon for the lawful purpose of protecting myself via concealed carry" and that should be it...case dismissed.

would it really happen that way? i don't know.

it is a decision you have to make for yourself.

i've made mine...based on what the law actually says...but i do also own up to the fact that our legal system often ignores what the law actually says.