Gun free zone theoretical

[BigRed1911]

I have recently wondered what the outcome of the following scenario would be.

Say you are concealed carrying on a college campus, despite the fact that it is illegal. An active shooter type situation breaks out and he locks down the lecture hall. As everyone is taking cover, you maneuver into position and stop the situation. What happens to the hero of the day? Will he be convicted of murder? Or will he lose his permit despite saving hundreds of lives? Nothing?

Are there any lawyers on the forum that can shed some light on this?

Is there any hope for a reduction in the never of fun free zones?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[PEF]

I have recently wondered what the outcome of the following scenario would be.

Say you are concealed carrying on a college campus, despite the fact that it is illegal. An active shooter type situation breaks out and he locks down the lecture hall. As everyone is taking cover, you maneuver into position and stop the situation. What happens to the hero of the day? Will he be convicted of murder? Or will he lose his permit despite saving hundreds of lives? Nothing?

Are there any lawyers on the forum that can shed some light on this?

Is there any hope for a reduction in the never of fun free zones?

You'll get no constructive answer here, as it would depend on 1) the state and muni laws; 2) the district attorney; and 3) to some extent, the background of the "hero."

On a lighter note, I like how you use the term "fun free zone" for "gun free zone." I like it a lot. I motion that the forum collectively refer to "gun free zones" as "fun free zones" hereafter!

[BenGoodLuck]

Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6! But make sure you put your CCW away after neutralizing the threat, so you don't get mistaken by the police as the perpetrator.

[BigRed1911]

iPhone autocorrects sometimes work out for the best! Sorry for the mispeak anyhow.

Thanks

[tubadude]

As a college student, I've thought about this a lot. To the best of my knowledge, campus carry isn't illegal in WV, but the school can still kick you out for it. However, WVU is a state school and is state property, so I don't know if that changes things. My thinking is that there would be some kind of public pressure for leniency or complete forgiveness for the "hero."

[SAXN8R]

The problem is the more likely scenario, which is; you accidentally print or get made while carrying "illegally" and now the campus is on lock down because of a "man with a gun" call. This will only add to the hysteria and "justify" the campus gun free zone supporters.

[PEF]

iPhone autocorrects sometimes work out for the best! Sorry for the mispeak anyhow.

Thanks

I figured as much, but I still like it.

I've given this a bit more thought, but not too much in the last twenty minutes. In many states it is legal to intervene to protect others from grave bodily injury or death. Now, if the law were written in such a way that the privilege is not available if the CCW holder/"hero" is in violation of a place restriction, all bets are off (not aware of any law like that, seems kind of pointless). Likewise, the DA may be a "crusader." The DA may try to prosecute the "hero" to make a point. A murder rap may not be available, but other offense might be (e.g., loss of license, fines, etc. - whatever the penalty is for violation of the place restriction). Maybe the DA is such a crusader that he'd try to press a murder rap anyway.

Public support of the "hero"? Hmmm. Who knows. Is the "hero" a guy whose wife left him after she caught him posting porn with his mistress on websites and who is now late on child support? Is the "hero" ex-military who had two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, has a stellar service record, and has remained faithful to his high school sweetheart, who happens to be the mother of his beautiful twin daughters?

Way too many factors here.

Only sound advice for the shooter - clam up and ask for a lawyer. Find one that knows the laws and how the DA operates.

[multistage]

Judgement call on your part. Even though you may be "the hero of the day," you did break the law by carrying where you shouldn't. It's all gonna depend of your region (gun friendly?), the DA, local law enforcement, college authorities, all sorts of people who will jump in. You may get a small slap on the wrist since, while saving lives, you did break the law. Or you could get a conglomeration of sheriff, dean, and DA, all of whom are extremely anti gun and all set to burn you down.

[Agave]

Tennessee Code Ann. 39-17-1322. Defenses.

"A person shall not be charged with or convicted of a violation under this part [Offenses Against Public Health, Safety, & Welfare / Weapons] if the person possessed, displayed or employed a handgun in justifiable self-defense or in justifiable defense of another during the commission of a crime in which that person or the other person defended was a victim."

You'd be legally okay here.

[Eagleks]

Well, here... . it's not illegal .... but cannot carry in a building if it's posted. They cannot post any grounds, etc.

But....my take on your question is this..... you have not violated the law if it's truly a self-defense or in-defense of another situation. You have only violated 'where' you can carry, and those charges may be applicable and applied to you. Here, that would a misdemeanor and a $50 fine with no loss of your license.

However, I will add... in some situations I've seen here, although 'technically' the person violated the law, they were seen as heros for their actions (not school related) , and the community and citizens reacted so strongly and put so much pressure on the DA's, that they knew if they didn't drop the charges there was no way they would ever be re-elected again. So, the DA's dropped the charges. So, all depends. I wouldn't bet on that one though.

It's also legal here to carry in any school that is not posted. But I think the Gun Free Zone (Fedl law) only applies to K-12 grades, and not to college campuses.... someone can speak up that knows for sure. So, I don't think the Fedl law would kick in at all.

[sdprof]

EagleKS - correct on GFZSA - only pertains to K-12.

[Agave]

EagleKS - correct on GFZSA - only pertains to K-12.

Also, GFSZA does not apply to persons holding a carry permit in a state that issued said permit.

[msgt/ret]

Since it is a felony to carry a concealed weapon on ANY educational property in North Carolina you will be at the mercy of the DA as whether you will be prosecuted or hailed as a hero.

GS_14-269.2

[SmokinFool]

Red, I believe in your scenario the protagonist would still be a hero, but he may be a hero who can no longer legally carry his trusty sidearm, and may be facing criminal charges.

[archer51]

What is going to happen is hard to say. It will depend on the state your in, the DA who's jurisdiction it happened in. How gun friendly the state your located in can have an effect as well.

The odds of a campus shooting at your location are very small. From what I could find, there are approximately 4100 (seems like a low number to me), 2 and 4 year higher education facilities in the US. If there were 20 shooting incidents in a year (extremely high number), you stand a 0.4% chance of being involved in one.

My advice is to follow the law of your state. If you can carry legally by state law, then carry. If your state law places colleges and universities off limits, don't carry. Regardless of how you feel about having to disarm. If you violate the laws of your state, you make yourself one of the bad guys.