Michigan Schools Assert Right To Gun-Free Zone After Recent Open Carry Firearm Ruling
Posted by jhingarat21 on 24th Aug 2015
Michigan schools are voicing out their right to implement a gun-free school zone. This was after a recent ruling that a father can op
enly carry his firearm inside his child’s elementary school, which was based on a state law that does allow Michigan citizens with a concealed weapon permit to openly carry their firearm inside the school.
A Michigan school district is moving to appeal a recent court decision that ruled in favor of a father who was denied
access to an elementary school as he openly carried his gun.
The Genesee County school district’s board of education unanimously voted last week to appeal the case to the state Court of Appeals. Circuit Judge Archie Hayman ruled Monday last week in favor of Kenneth Herman, the father of a female elementary school student, and the Michigan Open Carry gun-rights advocacy group. Herman sued the district earlier this year for not allowing him to enter the school grounds to pick up his child. School officials said Herman was denied access as he was openly carrying his firearm.
“Mr. Herman was licensed to do what he did under state law,” said Attorney Dean Greenblatt, who represented Herman and the gun-rights group. “But the school district said, ‘No, we’re going to come up with a policy, a regulation that is more restrictive than state law.’ That, they of course can’t do.”
According to Kristin Decarr of Education News, a number of school districts have already asserted their right to implement a gun-free school zone. While the state law does allow Michigan citizens with concealed-weapon permit to openly carry their firearms on school grounds, district attorney Tim Mullens said the measure also allows districts to create policies ensuring the safety of students.
“The Legislature needs to step up and get the focus on education, and not on some guy who wants to carry a gun in a school,” Clio Area School District Superintendent Fletcher Spears told the Free Press last week. He added that schools would go on lockdown when they see a gun on school grounds as they need to know an individual’s intension to carry the weapon.
“Whether they can isn’t the issue, it’s whether they should,” said Spears.