I was talking with some friends about this last night at dinner. We have said before that  teachers should be allowed to have a gun with them, maybe hidden in their desk in the class, as a form of protection with all the school shootings going on among students in the last few years. But then you hear about this incident at a faculty meeting, and that blows our theory away for good. I don't have any children yet, but when I do i shouldn't be worried about them going to school!

 

 

 

You are absolutely right.  Whether insane or not, I see no reason why she shouldn't get first dibs on a ride in "Yellow Mama".

 

Insanity pleas are such BS.  Great... she was insane when she killed her coworkers.  Let's put her in an institution for rehabilitation so that she can possibly regain a normal life.  The taxpayers foot the bill to rehab these people while the victims' families are left with nothing but the loss of loved ones without even the simple grace of closure.  It's sickening that criminals possess more rights to freedoms than those that are "free".

 

 

I do understand what you are saying about moving back to the county but that isn't a cure-all as far as getting away from idiots, crime, and violence.  Take a look at the maps that pinpoint the homes of sex offenders, they're everywhere.  Read the Athens paper for a few weeks and pay attention to the police blotter.  Watch how many people are busted "in the county" for assault, burglary, drug possession, meth labs, ....  In the past few months there have been over a half dozen people busted that live within a couple of miles of my home, and I'm "in the county", and they aren't being picked up for little things like bad checks.

 

Every time something like this happens, we have people expressing shock that it happened "here".  We've heard in with Columbine, VA Tech, Discovery Middle School, UAH,...  Guess what folks?  We all live "here" and it really has just become more a matter of when rather than where or if.

 

The best thing you can do is remain aware of your surroundings, aware of the people you cross paths with, and depend on yourself for protection.  One of my favorite quotes is "When seconds matter, the police is minutes away."

There is no state law prohibiting carrying on a college campus however each county establishes its own restrictions. 

 

Limestone County prohibits the carry of guns in "any courthouse or other public building whether City, County, State, or Federal".  A state college or university building would be considered a "State public building".

 

What restrictions does Madison County have?

 

One odd thing about County restrictions is that if I'm in a different county I'm only limited by the restrictions of the issuing county.  For instance some counties restrict carry in establishments that serve booze.  Limestone County does not have that restriction so I can legally carry a concealed handgun in a bar or restaurant that serves booze in a county that does have that restriction on its residents with carry permits.

 

Alabama law says OK, but UAH says no, just like Boeing.  (UAH handbook, page 101). 

 

 

A state law would override page 100 of the UAH handbook.  However, it would be more difficult to write a state law overriding the policy of a business or property owner.  An employer could fire you if you violated his gun policy.  A propery owner, home or business, can forbid you to carry a weapon but his recourse is pretty much limited to trespassing charges if you refused to leave when asked unless you got stupid about it. 

"we charged him with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit,"

 

"The university has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to weapons on campus", said David Shields, vice president for student affairs.

"As a result ...immediately expelled from the university"

The school has a "no weapons" policy.  He was carrying a weapon in violation of that policy.  He would have been expelled.

 

 He was carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.  He was arrested and charged for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

 

What is the concealed carry policy for Lauderdale County?  Depending on what that county's policy is, he may have been arrested for having a concealed weapon in the school even if he had a permit. 

 

If you carry in a place prohibited by your county you are charged with carrying a concealed weapon whether you have a permit or not.  The way the restriction is worded in Limestone County you would not be in violation if you were on the campus but not in a building.  The wording of the school policy appears to be “on campus”.

I find that hard to believe that you would not fall under the restrictions of the county your in.

Strange, but true.  I've talked with a couple of sheriff's departments and that's the way it works.  The whole thing revolves around a couple of legal issues:

Section 13A-11-59 of the Alabama Code

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person, other than a law enforcement officer, to have in his or her possession or on his or her person or in any vehicle any firearm while participating in or attending any demonstration being held at a public place.

Demonstration Defined:

(1) DEMONSTRATION. Demonstrating, picketing, speechmaking or marching, holding of vigils and all other like forms of conduct which involve the communication or expression of views or grievances engaged in by one or more persons, the conduct of which has the effect, intent or propensity to draw a crowd or onlookers. Such term shall not include casual use of property by visitors or tourists which does not have an intent or propensity to attract a crowd or onlookers.

The excerpt above, paragraph (b), is the ONLY restriction in the Alabama Code I’ve found on where you can carry a firearm in the state of Alabama.  This restriction is on the carrying of firearms at “demonstrations”, it doesn’t matter if the weapon is concealed or not.  For that matter there is no provision in the Alabama code that prohibits the open carry of handguns and there is an Attorney General’s opinion from a few years back that supports the legality of open carry.

Back to the county license issue.  The concealed carry licensing program is completely under the control of each county sheriff.  He determines what information is obtained, references checked, … He decides what restrictions are placed on where you are not permitted to carry a concealed weapon in his county.  All these things are decided by each sheriff and can be changed any time he decides to make changes.  The provisions of the concealed carry program are not even covered under the county ordinances.  As a result of all this when you are issued a carry permit it is valid only as long as you carry in accordance with the restrictions of the issuing sheriff.

From the Baldwin County website:

Your license does not authorize you to carry a pistol into any establishment that serves alcohol or to be in possession of a pistol while consuming alcohol.

Your license does not authorize you to carry a pistol inside an airport, courthouse or any other public building that specifically prohibits firearms.  This includes city, state, and federal facilities.

Your license does not authorize you to carry a pistol at any public gathering such as sporting events, political events, parades, etc. (Title 13A-11-59)

As you can see, Baldwin County prohibits the carry of concealed weapons in places that serve booze or while you are consuming alcohol (in your own home?).  Limestone County doesn’t have any booze related restrictions so if I’m visiting Baldwin County and eat dinner in a Pizza Hut, that serves beer, with a friend that has a Baldwin County CCL,  I’m legally allowed to keep my handgun on my person but my friend would not.  If caught, my friend would be guilty of carrying a concealed weapon without a license because entering that establishment automatically voided his license.  On the other end of the scale, if my friend was visiting me and we went to a Limestone County restaurant that serves beer, he would not be legal if he carried his firearm into the establishment even though Limestone County doesn’t have that restriction.

An interesting aspect of the Baldwin County restrictions is that it prohibits carrying a concealed weapon at a sporting event citing Alabama Code, Title 13A-11-59.  If you look at the portions of the code which I quoted above you’ll see that the Alabama Code does not include sporting events in the definition of “Demonstrations”.

Why would you expect the legalities of carrying a concealed weapon be any less screwed up as the rest of the Alabama law and the Alabama Constitution?

 

Dont shoot the messenger. 

http://www.ago.state.al.us/oldopinions/8400205.pdf - http://www.ago.state.al.us/oldopinions/8400205.pdf

 

 

Case, this law refers/applies to ownership, not concealed carry. The State prohibits counties/municipalities from restricting the ownership of handguns.

 

 

Just exactly what does the statement "Unauthorized possession of firearms or dangerous weapons on company property" mean?  Nowhere is "unauthorized possession" defined.  This is a question I've chosen not to pursue because of what should be pretty obvious reasons.

 

On another note, I may have to back pedal somewhat on the comments I made eariler about county rules and CCL.  The past couple of days I've been attempting to talk with people and offices that I had talked with several years ago and so far I've gotten a combination of no response and "I wouldn't have told you anything like that".

 

Possess is another word for own. If it applied to concealed carry it would be worded more like "possess on you person". It's legalese!

 

Amen, Doc! It's always better to tried by 12 than carried by 6.

 

Gatting this back on topic, Yall need to go look at this.