Teacher suspended for leaving rifle in locked truck

Josey1

Teacher suspended for leaving rifle in locked truck By Mindie Paget Wednesday, December 19, 2001 Wellsville High School teacher Steve Decker is temporarily out of a job.And he doesn't even have a deer to show for it.The social studies teacher was suspended without pay for 60 days after a search dog hired by the school nosed down a deer rifle in his pickup truck."I just happened to forget it that morning," Decker said. An avid hunter, Decker goes out nearly every morning before school - sometimes in the evening, too - in search of deer. He hasn't spotted a single one all season.After one such trip a few weeks ago, he broke down his rifle, put it in its case, stashed it under the seat in his extended cab pickup truck and forgot to take it out before driving to school.A dog with Interquest - a Houston-based canine detection company the district has hired to do random parking lot checks this year - sniffed out the gun inside Decker's locked truck.Kansas law prohibits firearms on school property.Principal Randall Renoud said he had nothing to do with Decker's suspension. Interquest officials contacted the district's central office, which, by law, must report the incident to police, he said.Wellsville Police Sgt. Mike Reed, acting chief, said the report was handled by the school resource officer. Reed didn't know if formal charges had been filed.Decker wasn't aware of any charges against him, and neither the Wellsville city prosecutor nor the Franklin County attorney could be reached for comment Tuesday.A clerk in the district office, speaking on behalf of Supt. Denise O'Dea, said the district had no comment on the matter at this time.Renoud said the search that resulted in Decker's suspension was the second of several searches that would occur this school year. The dogs are trained to detect drugs, alcohol, weapons and contraband."We wanted our schools to be as safe as they possibly can be," Renoud said. "But we did not feel that we had a 'problem.'"After the first search, Renoud said, one student was suspended the rest of the year for having a weapon. Renoud wouldn't specify what kind of weapon but said it wasn't a gun.This isn't Decker's first run-in with the district in his nearly 26 years as a teacher. Four years ago, the school board, without citing a reason, decided not to renew Decker's teaching contract. The decision prompted a walkout of about 150 Wellsville students. Decker was rehired just before classes started the following fall and said he still doesn't know why he was fired.But Decker said that the two incidents are unrelated and that he can't blame the district for suspending him for having a gun at school - even if it was an accident."We live in bizarre times with all these things that have happened since September," Decker said. http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/77382

idsman75

I had a roommate who worked a bomb-dog. It was amazing. That dog could detect a fired .223 casing in the bottom of a 7-foot garbage dumpster filled with trash.

Bullzeye

I used to leave my 20-gauge shotgun hanging on the rack in the back of my pickup when I was in high school. No one ever said a word to me.Different time, different area too. I lived in the boonies.

S&W 629

Sounds to me that he got caught in an honest mistake. But being a teacher, he should've known better. Maybe the punishment was a bit harsh... but they were probably using him as an "example".

v35

What on a gun are the dogs sniffing out ?I had a plastic"CIA" letter opener sniffed through a coat pocket at an airport several years ago. The plastic looks like that used in Glocks and other plastic framed guns.Anyone knowledgeable on the subject ?

idsman75

They are sniffing smokeless powder residue. My old roommate's explosives detection dog was standing outside of a dumpster and detected a fired 5.56mm fired casing that was inside the dumpster buried under garbage. I had dogs go through my barracks room while stationed at Fort Drum and they didn't react to my Craftsman tool chest which contained cleaning supplies that were probably riddled with smokeless powder residue. Then again, I was an investigator and my roommate was one of the dog handlers so that may have had something to do with it *wink* *wink*. Had the dogs reacted during the "health and welfare" inspection, they would have found a few illegal blades. I was a bit nervous that day.

beachmaster73

Before the Columbine incident I used to bring my match service rifles into school to teach my cadets the different firing positions and how to get into them. Still remember the first time the Assistant Principal walked by, looked in, and nodded approvingly. Now I wouldn't even think about having weapons like that on campus....the downside risk is just too great. So I have to take the kids to the range where they don't get to dry fire as much....and instead have to shoot live rounds!!! It's possible that this school incident was blown out of proportion, but the liability if something had gone wrong is really a major issue with many schools in this litigous society of ours. Beach

wundudnee

I think it is sad that we have come to the point that there have been rules like this put into place. When I was young nobody gave it a thought taking guns on school property. However now is a different time. Even if we don't think it is right it is their rule, either abide by it or suffer consequences. He knew the procedures in place and either was negligent or indifferent to them. I wish we could go back to using common sense and good judgement instead of legislating ourselves into a tight place.

218Beekeep

Last year,the next town up, we had a high school girl make national news by being kicked out of school ,just a week or so before graduation,and not allowed to attend graduation(I don`t remember if they finaly relented or not).She was an honor student..her crime was having a steak nife on the passenger side floorboard,of her car.Seems there were other things spilled there..spoons ,maybe.She tried to explain that she and her mom had just moved and it was in a box of kitchen stuff that had turned over and spilled while she was moving ..218

songdog

being from kansas, I know that franklin county is derived from farming. All of the money in that county is from the agri. business. If the feds really wanted to, they should arrive at school when school is dismissed for the day and watch all of the people that show up to pick their kids up and have rifles in the window, probably loaded. It is common for many kansas kids to go hunting right after school is out. Especially in a small farming community such as Wellsville. I would also imagine that the 150 students that walked out or whatever were probab ly all of the students in the high school. Although the teacher was in the wrong, i still think that this is a crock of, as someone said earlier, bull dingy. I too have seen an incedent like this happen at the place where i attended high school. A teacher had a 7 inch bloody hunting knife in his truck. A student saw it and went and told that teacher, heleft class to run the knife home. Another "liberal" teacher found out about it and ratted him out. What a b!@ch. IF i remember right, after graduation, That teacher recieved 125 rolls of TP all over her yard. And her neighbors even donated an extra 10 rolls to the cause. I still do not think that was enough TP to wipe up all the * she spread all over the place.songdog [This message has been edited by songdog (edited 12-23-2001).]

timberbeast

I graduated in 1975. In the fall, more often than not, I had an A-5 in my trunk, because me and a few buds usually hunted after school. Even had one teacher come out to check out my gun, we're in the parking lot passing it around, along with a buddie's Wingmaster and the teacher's 1100. Nobody says boo. I took him out and showed him my "secret" Wood Duck spot. Ran into him a few times out there afterwards. Still had the nerve to give me a bad grade in science class!! (I deserved it). It's a sad world now. I was born too late. My dad and his friends used to keep their .22's in the cloakroom in grade school, because they checked their traplines and shot meat for the pot on their way to and from school.

turbo

Rules & Regulations are like laws, unfortunately this appears to be a state law also, he should have known better, this is a tough way to learn.Parking on school property, gives the school the right, to enforce the law.If charged by the state, he could lose his job.Whoa..

biggunr

What kind of moron brings a gun to a school?! He should have known better and he deserves whatever he gets. Come on guys, how can there be any discussion on this?

Rembrandt

My, my...how times have changed. Our school bus driver carried a side by side shotgun behind the seat of the bus in case we saw any pheasants.....found some along some back road ditches...driver stopped, one of the older kids got it out and stepped outside to take a shot...took home two birds that day. Would have been on the national news and every major magazine cover had it happened today.

Mom Mom

I knew kids who got EXCUSED by their parents from school on opening day. And I'm really not that old.

218Beekeep

Last year I went to a gun show in a West Virginia highschool gym..218

gunpaq

We live in a different time and a changing culture. My first year teaching I assisted with the summer recreation program at the high school that included a marksmanship program. One would often see several pickup trucks with gun racks in the parking lot of the school that belonged to the teachers as well as the students during the hunting seasons. Twenty years certainly makes a different.

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Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.

nunn

If he had been in Texas, he would have been OK as far as the Penal Code goes. Parking lots are not "premises," under the law.School policy would be a different matter and can be highly variable.Personally, I see little threat from a cased gun, stored out of sight, in a locked vehicle, on a school parking lot. Or the parking lot of an airport, hospital, church, bank, museum, you name it. Actually, I don't see a problem with teachers being armed in school. It might prevent a mass murder or two. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that some teachers are packing. I would be if I were one.When I lived in southwest Arkansas, many years ago, all the schools closed the first two days of deer season. It was a practical thing. Had they remained open, there would have been very few students there.

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Certified SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of the General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the premier gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net Jesus is Lord!