I've mentioned Jim Spencer, the DENVER POST's Official Bleeding Heart, and I generally try to avoid his columns, which usually exhibit the keen insight and incisivie intelligence of a Kristy Swanson movie. This morning, in a fit of weakness, I slipped up. Since it gave me indigestion, I thought I'd give you all indigestion as well. Here's today's column...paging the Pulitzer Prize Committee!
Law allows readin', writin' and rifleOh, read the whole thing! Her's my favorite part, though:
By Jim Spencer
According to the Jan. 23 report, the student's pickup held a 7mm rifle, a 7mm bullet, hundreds of rounds of .22-caliber ammunition and eight cans of beer.
Holyoke school Superintendent Stephen Bohrer said the truck was parked 150 feet from the front door of Holyoke Junior-Senior High and 50 feet from two side doors.
That, Bohrer said, was why a drug-sniffing dog from a private security firm stopped at the truck.
To signal something wrong.
More wrong than you might think.
The truck full of bullets and beer broke no laws because it was not parked on school property and because the student who drove it was 18, said Holyoke police Sgt. Doug Bergstrom, who investigated.
Bergstrom claimed there were no more than 20 .22-caliber bullets in the car. A report by Joe DiSalvo, president of Interquest Detection Canines, says he found six full or partially full boxes of bullets under the front seat.
"I stand by my report," DiSalvo said.
Legally, it doesn't matter. The way Colorado law works, the student, a senior at Holyoke, could have had 1,000 bullets.
"This student was 18," Bergstrom said. "He's parked on public property. He's 18, so he's allowed to have a rifle. We couldn't place him with the beer. I did contact a deputy district attorney. She said there was nothing we could charge."
Bohrer suspended the student for five days. That, Bohrer said, prompted the parents of the 18-year-old to come in and yell at Bohrer and a school administrator to mind their own business.
When rifle-toting freaks can lawfully park a short sprint from school doors, you have a recipe for tragedy.That's right...a man with a public forum, Jim Spencer, is able to libel an unnamed 18-year-old student [not named because the DENVER POST is "concerned" about our youth; apparently less concerned about libel] who broke no law, committed no crime, did nothing that I (in my youth) and quite literally millions of other young people do on a regular basis...have a deer rifle and some .22s in the car on public property!
A troubled student or outsider "could be out to the car and back in seconds," Bohrer said of Holyoke's layout. That's because the public street is actually closer to the school than the official student parking lot, where weapons-at-school laws can be enforced.
The dog that found the rifle and beer did its job. Now, it's time for everybody else to do theirs.
At 18, this young man can enlist, become part of a cadre of trained "rifle-toting freaks" and be in Fallujah by the end of the year.
Here's the DENVER POST contact information. I suggest a courteous note to Gregory Moore, the POST's editor. Don't even bother contacting Spencer...I've done that before, and it's like trying to explain trigonometry to a cat...it may pay attention, but don't bother buying it a protractor! You might want to send a note to the POST's token conservative columnist, David Harsanyl, who hasn't libeled anybody and seems a pretty sharp guy.
And to that pinnacle of public service, Joe DiSalvo, "private security contractor" — ie, an unsworn, non-law enforcement, member of the public with no authority to do anything — working public streets, hey dude...I park on public streets, too! Want to have your doggie sniff my truck?
10 comments:
A "private security contractor" taking his dog down public streets to conduct sniff-tests? Oooh, my pitbull attorney would love to sink his teeth into that guy.
I can see it now: "Do you have arrest powers in this State?"
[If he does, what was the probable cause? If not, can he spell "unlawful arrest?"]
In my high school days in the early 70's. We all carried deer rifle's in racks. In our trucks. Parked in the high school parking lot. I carried a knive in my pocket every day. If you didn't something was wrong with you. My son last school term. Same school, 34 years later. Failed to take his knive out after going fishing on the weekend. Monday morning. Kicked out of school 6 weeks. If we don't change. Our army won't be able to take out a potatoe chip truck in 15 years. Maybe sooner. Pussy's abound.
I love the response from the politician. We need more like him.
Bohrer's request for legislative relief from easy access to deadly weapons outside a facility housing kids as young as seventh-graders was met with this e-mailed reply from his state senator, Greg Brophy:
"I can't say that I want to help you with this one. I used to want to hunt more than anything except wrestle when I was in school, and I would often have a rifle or shotgun in my pickup. Under the current laws, I would have to park on the street to make sure that I am not breaking the law, and we need to have that flexibility in the law."
More than twenty rounds of .22LR? Sheesh, if they searched my Jeep on a trip to the range, the bullet-sniffing dog would pass out from overload. 300-500 rounds per trip minimum. I just grab whatever box is opened and if it is low, the next full one behind it. I routinely have 1500-2000 rounds of .22LR on hand. No big deal. Six boxes in the truck is a nice day of shooting.
Why do media people recoil in horror at the thought of a hundred rounds as being massive? That isn't even one night's shooting per caliber.
I'm pleased the LEO's hands were tied, as it should be. The private security contractor can kiss my ass. If my stuff is out of sight on a public street, good luck in getting me to consent to a search without cause.
Michael:
It’s a little known fact that, in years gone by, any high school built with the aid of federal funding had to incorporate an indoor shooting range for ROTC use.
Back in the mid ‘80s, my older son was in his early teens and a member of a small-bore rifle team that shot weekly on the range in the basement of the local high school. I’m sure it would have given Mr. Spencer the cold chills to know there were a dozen or so adolescents loose in the local high school with a bunch of rifles and God only knows how many rounds of ammunition.
In truth, it was one of the most clean cut and responsible groups of kids I’ve ever seen, and they were participating in a sport that built dedication and character. It’s a sad commentary on our society and a damn shame that our kids can’t participate in activities like this at the local neighborhood high school nowadays.
Ill try and keep this comment
'clean'.
What a crock of crap!
During ALL of my high school years, I was constantly found on the school indoor range, burning ammo daily! I fought hard to win a spot on one of the several rifle squads and I too full advantage of all that nice free ammo and use of very nicely maintained target rifles.
During those four years I have absolutely no recollection of any criminal mis use of any of the equipment or supplies.
Now as for that private security person....
Just what gave him the right to have his mutt sniff a vehicle parked on a public street???
RVN11B
My point exactly!
Some bicycle seat sniffer cruising up and down a public street looking for...what? Drugs? Then how'd he find beer and bullets? And where'd this loser get a beer-sniffing dog, anyway? Now, is the local school board paying this discount mall ninja for his crack work? Whoops...is "crack" work the right word? I hope it doesn't place me under suspicion! I'd hate for that to end up on my permanent record!
Probable cause for the search, anyone? The whiff of cordite? The stench of old hunting clothes?
In my neighborhood, that'd be called "breaking and entering" or maybe "Grand Theft Auto."
Maybe he'll sniff my little town...it would truly be fascinating to watch Mr. Mall Ninja attempt make a "citizen's arrest," wouldn't it? I shiver with fear...
Michael B
Personally I would feel very threatened if doggie sniffed my truck.
Dogs in the control of a School bully...
What?
Oh, sorry.
Private security contractor...
ahem.
If said dog and handler were to confront me, I would feel threatened with grave bodily harm. I would therefor defend myself accordingly.
Then I'd sue the school for failing to control a dangerous weapon.
Call the Denver Post, cancel your subscription, be sure to tell them why. My local paper, the Colo Spgs Gazette, used to be a good paper. Now it's just another whiny left wing rag. I dropped my subscription, and told them why. Now they're going down the tubes, and can't understand why. I'm sure to remind them why a few times a year.
Bohrer should be happy now. They're threatening to ban three students from graduation exercises to make examples of them. Bear in mind what they plan to do is legal; however, they are singling out three students when they need to ban half the senior class boys for their unbecoming conduct. It's a power trip with schools. Oh, and they never called any of the parents in to discuss anything with them. They just hauled the kids in the office. Don't even have the decency or intestinal fortitude to face the parents. Like I said, it's a power trip with administration at Holyoke schools. It will never end, so sit back and enjoy the ride.
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