On April 26, 2012 Kentucky was among the first to show its gun owners that when it went to a high court, the 2nd amendment was upheld! This came by Judge Pamela Goodwine ruling in favor of being able to store a firearm in a personal vehicle on a college campus. A brief from the NRA on behalf of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action had preceded The Kentucky Court’s ruling. This decision reversed a ruling in 2009 of a Fayette County Circuit Court and according to the Washington, D.C Cooper & Kirk attorney David Thompson, who was representing the National Rifle Association, was considered to be a very "important victory for gun owners in Kentucky."
Micheal Mitchell was a graduate student and employed as an anesthesia technician at the UK Chandler Medical Center in 2009, and a pistol was found in his parked car in the schools parking lot. He had a valid CCW, a license to carry a concealed deadly weapon KRS 237.110. His coworkers reported that he had a gun in his locker, and after Hospital Administration called the Kentucky State Police nothing was found after a search. He admitted he had a CCDW and a pistol in his personal vehicle. Although in a glove box (out of sight) of his personal vehicle, and not breaking any laws; he violated his contract upon enrollment when becoming a student by violating the no weapons clause of having a weapon on property owned by the University of Kentucky.
Most gun owners who are students believed that with a CCDW, or current Open-Carry laws, that this is not breaking any rules. It isn’t from a legal standpoint. When you sign the papers becoming a student or employee on a college campus, you waive your 2nd right Amendment by agreeing to adhere to school policy. You have less rights on a campus to defend yourself-than on the street in front of the school for example- as dictated by school policy alone when it comes to self-defense.
The school had won after Mitchell had filed suit in the Fayette County Circuit Court. Mitchell then appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court and was granted a victory yesterday in the ruling. In the ruling the state declares, “…Mitchell’s discharge was contrary to a fundamental and well defined public policy, i.e., the right to bear arms as evidenced by the Kentucky Revised statutes.”
Second Amendment Advocates and gun owners were vindicated by the state of Kentucky’s choice-and this is a ruling that should have legislators pricking up their ears- as many states are strife in state legislature when it comes to citizens rights and gun ownership.
Posted on
Mon, April 30, 2012
by Dyann Callahan
filed under