Outrageous

[gunman42782]

17-Year-Old Future Olympian Disciplined For Shotgun Shells In Vehicle:  In yet another case of over reactive, one-size-fits-all, "zero-tolerance" enforcement, Arizona high school senior and shotgun-shooting Olympic hopeful Kim Peters was recently charged by local school officials with "possession of a dangerous instrument" and subsequently suspended, an October 29 azcentral.com article reports.   

What was the "dangerous instrument" that Kim was in "possession" of, and why did school officials feel the need to suspend her?   Well, apparently a security guard writing parking tickets noticed two unopened boxes of shotgun shells on the back seat of Peters' SUV as it sat in a school visitors parking lot.  Hence, the "dangerous instrument(s)" in this case were the unopened boxes of shells the student-athlete used in practice for her sport, and the "possession" was because the unopened boxes were sitting on the back seat of Kim's parked, and presumably locked, vehicle.   

After discovering the shells, the student and her vehicle were "thoroughly searched" by school officials.  No firearms of any sort were found, nor were firearms involved in the incident in any way.

The 17-year-old Peters -- one of only 18 athletes in the nation to attend this year's Junior Olympic shooting camp in Colorado Springs, CO -- practices 12 hours a week and has won many trophies.  Peters said that her hectic practice schedule and the fact that she was running late on the morning in question were to blame for her forgetting to remove the shells from her vehicle.

The family is fighting the local school district over the excessive punishment, fearing that if the charge is not expunged, colleges will refuse her admittance.  So far, school administrators are not budging in their decision and have rejected the family's first appeal.   

So, in their zeal to enforce "zero-tolerance" rules, these high school administrators have thrown common sense out of the window.  This accomplished, Olympic-class shooter, who practices multiple hours per week, now faces an uncertain future due to the rigid, overzealous enforcement of a general rule, by administrators who refuse to reasonably consider common sense and extenuating circumstances.  That's outrageous

From NRA website

[Hazcat]

"Zero Tolerance" = "Zero Intelligence"!  It gives administrators an excuse not to think and take a considered approach to each, unique case.  They can simply say "It's policy".

We need to take back control of the schools at the local level and remind these people that WE pay their wages.

[jaybet]

How about a little zero tolerance for the zombie-like approach to "Word them and Herd them" administration and teaching that seems to abound in our public school systems.

[someguy]

Speaking in very general, non-threatening, 2000-miles away terms here...  It's abundantly clear from this article that there are several people in that area who are in dire need of a rather thorough ass-kicking.

Partially because of what was done to this girl, but mostly because I'm sure they're patting themselves on the back for it.   

[Dharmaeye]

Here in the Greater Seattle area similar things are happening. Students are being suspended for all sorts of "normal" things from my days in school. As a past boy scout we were told to be prepared. A small utility knife will get a kid suspended in High School.
Best thing would be to force Constitutional Information and Eddie Eagle events through Voter initiatives.

[Sponsor]

[Rastus]

How about a little zero tolerance for the zombie-like approach to "Word them and Herd them" administration and teaching that seems to abound in our public school systems.

That's because they are either lazy, scared of political correctness, or both.  It's take the easy route with most "educators".  People need to respect teachers, but stop worshiping them.  It is by far one the easiest degrees to get and, for the most part, teachers are far from the smartest or most diligent cookies on earth...which is why you see crap like this.

[Pathfinder]

That's because they are either lazy, scared of political correctness, or both.  It's take the easy route with most "educators".  People need to respect teachers, but stop worshiping them.  It is by far one the easiest degrees to get and, for the most part, teachers are far from the smartest or most diligent cookies on earth...which is why you see crap like this.

This crap does come from teachers, sort of, but also and more so from superintendents, principals, "special" consultants and the like. We had a parent's group leader in the town I came from before ND, back when I lived in the people's republik of illinois, who by herself bullied the principal into celebrating a week of Mexican stuff - and not for Cinco de Mayo either, in the middle of winter, including replacing the American flag with the mexican flag. There were maybe eight to ten Hispanic students in the school of almost 400 kids, and no she was not in any way shape or form Hispanic either. She was, however, a flaming liberal.

That said, the real fear is political correctness in the form of lawsuits from dissatisfied special interests. The only solution, and it is ugly, is to serve on the school boards that appoint these massively overpaid superintendents and principals, and work to select people who will support rights instead of expediency, and set policies that will reflect the values of the community as a whole, and not just the loudest screaming voices, of which there are many today.

Either that or filing some lawsuits of our own, but since they own a lot of the courts too, we would not do well there at this moment, I do believe.

If you turn your noses up at serving on school boards, BTW, you might well want to see what passes for textbooks these days. It might make you sick enough to run just for that!

[Tenbones]

It's FEAR!  These school administrators and most liberals in general live in fear of the world around them.  They lack the backbone to pull away from the "sheep" mentality, instead they keep their heads in the sand, cower in their homes at night.  They are unable to stand up for themselves so they look to their legislators to pass stupid laws so they can feel safe and live their sorry lives. 

Sorry, I just had to vent.  These things people do in the name of political correctness fly in the face of common sense.

[MikeBjerum]

This is exactly what terrorists are trying to do when they attack.  A bigger victory than killing all of us on the first attack is to make us adjust and adapt out of fear.  They will let us tear ourselves apart from the inside out as we fear airplanes, someone that looks different, someone that does something different than the rest of us, ...  Over the last few decades what was normal for most of us (a pocket knife, carrying our hunting and target guns in our trunk, ammo on the dash, gun magazines on the desk at work, and talk of hunting and shooting during our breaks) has slowly been taken away by political correctness forced by those that see only danger and aggression.  Now the terror attacks have led us to accelerate the erosion of our rights to the point we lose our direction.

Our Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms was put in place for just such times as we could potentially face at this time.  We have sleeper cells in this country, and they act as opportunists.  We can not, and should not, expect our Government to hold our hands every second of every day.  We need to use the common sense we were taught by our parents and grandparents, use the training we learned in Scouting programs and the military, and be ever vigilant.  We need to be responsible for the safety of ourselves, our families and our neighbors.  We can not panic, but we must be prepared and observant at all times just as we would be in preparation for a tornado in the summer or a blizzard in the winter.

The over reaction of rules and laws that ban a box of target shells from any property is a sign that some are preparing by running with irrational fear.  This is a case where we all need to support this dedicated student and athlete.  Sure she broke the rule through an error on her own part.  At this point I do not see how a person can undo the suspension, but we all need to fight to protect her status as an athlete.  We need to challenge these rules and laws on their Constitutional basis.  A key factor beyond the basics of the Second Amendment is that trap and skeet is not only an Olympic event, but it is also a recognized sport in many public and private Universities and High Schools.

If we don't invest the time and effort to return our Nation to center the terrorists will never need to attack again.  They will be able to sit back and watch us tear ourselves apart out of pure fear and panic.

[Rastus]

You guys are right on.  As a sidebar...don't forget that the superintendents and principals are generally teachers first.....and that in today's world it is the "politician" who often gets the promotion with not a lot of emphasis on ability..

By the way, my Mom is a retired teacher having taught over 30 years and many of our family friends were....teachers.  Hey, I am by no means labeling the good teachers as I know plenty, but the profession is way less honorable than it once was and we are talking about the loons here.

Lawsuits of our own....exactly right!  What I was really trying to emphasis....parents need to not be cowered by "educators" and should not abdicate complete control of their children.  It seems as though the education thing is as much geared to childcare as education...which is why I think we see 4 year olds in school....parents aren't doing their job.  Everyone wants to tell you how to raise your child, but when it blows up no one with that free information seems to be around when Susie and Johnny are 14 or 15 with a kid of their own on it's way or when Susie and Johnny are addicted to crack.  Oh, the advice may still be there...but you can bet your sweet ass they aren't staying up nights crying, working with child and paying the funeral bills.

Here's a case in point I've posted before.  Friends of mine were outraged when their daughter had to read a "classic" novel for her final English course and write a book report.  It was the last few weeks of school before her High School graduation.  That "classic" had a few pages that read like something out of Hustler and Penthouse.  The daughter complained, the parents talked to the teacher----but were "cowered" by the teacher saying it was 1) a classic and 2) no report she gets an F.  Hey...an F means no graduation in 3 or 4 weeks.  So...what you had was the classic "bully" and a threat.

The problem was resolved when I told them to think....think....think...think.  They said, "..but what can we do?"...I said their underage daughter was reading pornography...they said "We know,but what can we do?"....I said think, use your head.  They said, "so..."...I said go to the police department and file charges against the teacher...they said,"How can we do that." 

This is where everyone needs to catch on and I happen to agree with the Sociologists....we live in subcultures and just because someone is a top dog in their subculture...doesn't mean squat outside of that group (all equal under the law).  To shorten this long story, they went to the principal for the second time and this time they were "armed".  They told the principal they were going to file child porn charges against the teacher and the principal.  It took the "educators" a day to wake up (contacting school attorney?) but they came back trembling with apologies and...guess what?  No more bullies and no more problem book.  By the way....that was the teacher's last year at that school...standing up works guys.

You men are right on...we need to stand up.  Problem for most people...they are too lazy to think.  One reason I like the gun subculture...guys like the guys on this board are thinkers.  We can all contribute.