School banning items as weapons

[TC95GT]

Lynn adds to items banned as weapons

By Nandini Jayakrishna, Globe Correspondent | August 13, 2009

As students in Lynn prepare for the start of another school year, the city is taking extra steps to ensure their safety.

The City Council authorized police this week to arrest students who bring to school objects that could be used as weapons, officials said.

The ordinance, which passed Tuesday, expands the definition of a weapon to include items that are otherwise legal but could be used to inflict physical harm, said Police Chief Kevin F. Coppinger.

Students could be arrested if they bring objects such as air guns, pellet guns, BB guns, fireworks, and even bats and clubs to school without a “legitimate purpose,’’ he said.

In the past, Coppinger said, police could only seize the weapons in question and summon offenders to court, allowing them to stay in school and possibly threaten or harm other students and staff. The ordinance allows police to act when they “come across a group of kids engaged in a fight or ready to fight,’’ he said.

School safety and emergency planning officer Robert Ferrari said that in the past three years police have visited schools several times for weapon-related incidents but have made only six arrests. He added that if the laws had been amended earlier, more arrests would have been made.

The ordinance “certainly gives us a little more power to say, ‘Look there’s no reason for you to have weapons on you, period. If you do, there will be swift and severe consequences,’ ’’ he said.

The change had been in the works for some time, officials said.

“We’re trying to be proactive,’’ Coppinger said. “We didn’t see an uptick in kids bringing weapons to school.’’

He said police will make arrests depending on an individual’s actions, motivations, and circumstances. “If a kid brought a souvenir bat and had all his buddies sign it in school, there’s nothing illegal about it,’’ he said.

But Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said police should focus on students’ actions, rather than on “criminalizing objects that may have uses other than as weapons.’’

Rose, who had not read the ordinance and heard about it from a reporter, said: “Virtually any object, such as a shoe, could be used to attack another person. If the ordinance doesn’t clearly delineate specific weapons they [officials] have in mind, it has the potential to be overly broad.”

Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. said the ordinance gives police “another arrow in their quiver’’ and will protect people within the school system against those who “engage in egregious, dangerous, or antisocial behavior.’’

“A lot of these kids have hurdles enough to traverse without having to be looking over their shoulder,’’ Clancy said. “We don’t want anyone who’s coming to school for any illegitimate purpose to be there.’’

Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett said the ordinance was adopted as Lynn and other urban areas see an increase in incidents in which students bring both conventional and unconventional weapons to school.

He would not speculate about how many such cases his office will prosecute. “Appropriate safeguards and remedies are in place to help students who make a genuine mistake,’’ Blodgett said.

Jayakrishna can be reached at njayakrishna@globe.com.

[Stradawhovious]

THat could be used as weapons huh? Well then... with the proper motivation, one could use a pencil, ben, heavy book, compass, or a pair of scissors as a weapon.

Arrest them all. The dirty criminals.

Also, if a kid brings a bat for his buddies to sign, and you let him in with it without arrest......... then he puts it through his Social Studies teacher's skull...... Whose to blame?

THis is all so confusing. When I was in Highschool, we could bring our shotguns if we had a note from our parents saying we were coming straight to school from the field.

[hammAR]

...head to the Bat Cave, the sky is falling, I actually agree with the ACLU for once.....

But Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said police should focus on students’ actions, rather than on “criminalizing objects that may have uses other than as weapons.’’

Rose, who had not read the ordinance and heard about it from a reporter, said: “Virtually any object, such as a shoe, could be used to attack another person. If the ordinance doesn’t clearly delineate specific weapons they [officials] have in mind, it has the potential to be overly broad.”

[Ironbear]

Rose, who had not read the ordinance and heard about it from a reporter, said: “Virtually any object, such as a shoe, could be used to attack another person. If the ordinance doesn’t clearly delineate specific weapons they [officials] have in mind, it has the potential to be overly broad.”

No kidding! Back in High School, the one time I really thought I was going to get hurt, I had one girl hiding behind me, and was facing another very angry girl, with a heavy wooden-soled shoe in her hand!

[ex-LT]

...head to the Bat Cave, the sky is falling, I actually agree with the ACLU for once.....

But Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said police should focus on students’ actions, rather than on “criminalizing objects that may have uses other than as weapons.’’

Rose, who had not read the ordinance and heard about it from a reporter, said: “Virtually any object, such as a shoe, could be used to attack another person. If the ordinance doesn’t clearly delineate specific weapons they [officials] have in mind, it has the potential to be overly broad.”

I think this make two times in my life that I've actually agreed with the ACLU's stance on an issue, and both have been within the last 12 months.

[MNCarry]

The usual nanny-state nonsense from the usual suspects.

Dangerous weapons, huh? I can put a pencil up your left nostril and out your right ear before you can say "Barry Sucks!"

Another shining example of why those with young children should home school.

[David]

When I was in Highschool, we could bring our shotguns if we had a note from our parents saying we were coming straight to school from the field.

I can do one better than that, even. I was doing some work in a large, dirt-floor area underneath Washburn High School in Minneapolis back in the mid 90s, and discovered old targets, shell casings, and other shooting paraphernalia. The custodian of the building told me that's where the shooting club used to practice with their .22s. Awesome.