Long Rifle.... heh, heh-heh

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

The Times 9and places) we live in...

"Civil War re-enactor causes lockdown at schools

BRISTOL, Va. — A report of a man with a gun sent two school campuses into alert mode Tuesday morning, but the man turned out to be a Civil War re-enactor carrying a long rifle for a presentation.

According to the Bristol Police Department, officers responded to a report of a man carrying a rifle on Moore Street near Virginia Intermont College just before 9 a.m. Police started searching the area and notified V.I. officials of the circumstances.

Saint Anne’s Catholic School, which is a block away, also was notified.

V.I. went into a “Shelter In Place” alert, and Saint Anne’s went into a lockdown. V.I. security officials soon advised police that they had verified information about a Civil War re-enactor who was speaking to a history class on the campus.

The speaker had apparently brought a long rifle to show the class and was probably seen leaving as he carried that rifle, police said. Both schools canceled their alerts and resumed normal operations."

Curt

[Shortround]

I saw that at drudgereport. It's a nice break from the 24/7 "tray" coverage.

[Rob Weaver]

In 1979, I was giving a living history lecture for 8th graders in the local middle school. The secretary at the elementary school across the street saw me entering the building and called the police. Fortunately, the administration office had been informed previously and was able to intercept them before things got out of hand. I also told the local police before doing a demonstration once. Although I was demonstrating in a legal manner, the police appreciated that I'd contacted them first because they did get calls from citizens. Would it be better or worse to bring a musket "broken down" in a case, rather than slung over your shoulder? (Providing of course that the carrying of said musket is in fact legal and already permitted)?

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

I think so, yes.

These are always interesting to me for two reasons:

1. The laws the govern these thigns vary so wildly state to state, city to city, school board to school board.

2. Our personal knowledge of what laws govern us on these matters ranges from lads in the know all the way down to "Shucks, I always shot off my gun and never had a problem ever."

Where I live one is required under state law to have the permission of the school board or appointing authority in writing. I carried a copy in my kit.

However... in the Pre-Columbine Era, my wife a high school history teacher used to do a colonial day and a civil war day- allowing a student volunteer to put on a uniform and fire a blank on the school roof. She would not dare risk that now hereabouts.

My worst experience in following the letter of the law involved not firing a blank, but just in having a RM and demonstrating the manual of arms. One of the combined-class students had mental disabiities and "freaked out" screaming at the sight of a gun.
One school asked if I could not bring weapons. While I fully appreciate CW soldiers were not under arms all of the time, and that there is still much history to share without firearms, in my bias they were part of my talk and part of the whole I presented. It may have been snarky, but I declined the invitation to speak.

I beleive that having a workng relationship with the local police, as well as the school board, principals, and teachers goes a long way in "guarding against" someone looking out their window and seeing someone carrying a longarm into a schol. While wearing a uniform may help over modern day clothes, every body on teh same page might just spare one form causing a lock-down and SWAT team assault because some Good Citizen phoned the police.

Others mileage will vary...

Curt
Remembering the daze when kids brought their shotguns or rifles to school on Opening Day of Hunting Season Mess
Curt

[Rob Weaver]

I did a college demonstration in the post-Blacksburg era a couple years ago. I volunteered up front that I would not be bringing my firearms. Instead, I wrote a powerpoint that included my arms and a loading/firing demo. Although it lacked the "oomph" factor of a live demo, it did serve to generte a good bit of interaction with the students. I would recommend this as a school demo approach.

[Colonel Dave]

This is not related to the Civil War but it IS related to the threads topic....

I was in the mountains of eastern Kentucky trying to find a guy to serve a warrant on. I knew he had a violent background so I decided to put on my shoulder holster with my 38 caliber revolver. It was a Monday morning and I pulled into a Church parking lot, opened my trunk, took off my jacket, put my holster on, put my jacket back on and left for for the guy's address out in the country. Finding the guy and serving him with the summons...all without a problem. I returned to the town where I put my gun on and was surrounded by police. It turns out there was a school in the back of the church and the principal was watching me put on my gun. He called 911 and they asked him "Which was is he headed?" when I left to head out to the countryside. His response was, "He is headed for the Grade School". I knew nothing about any of this but the call went out there was an armed man headed for the Grade School. Needless to say, it took a lot of explaining but I was able to show them the paperwork documenting my story. Needless to say, they were angry but I had no idea there was a school behind the church and that I was violating Kentucky law just by having a gun so close to a school.

[civwarhistory]

This story really bothers me, as while it illustrates the importance of having a working relationship with schools and LE, I am also concerned by the lack of detail, as several questions arise. Did the reenactor communicate the intentions of bringing a firearm onto the campus? Was such information properly communicated? Hopefully, the first question is a yes. With the second question, someone apparently dropped the ball. When ROTC units engage in training, emails are sent out to the campus making folks aware that dummy rifles are being used. The saddest thing with this story is that more schools are going to be hesitant to bring us in to meet with the children, at least without removing one of the more attractive items from our presentation. Let's face it, kids like objects, and firearms are a part of soldiering. The important thing is to be responsible and cautious when working with the public and your piece. Anyway, enough of my rant.

I would like to hear about more of your experiences working with schools and how you have addressed concerns expressed about your equipment.

[Rob Weaver]

Although the long tube with wooden accents certainly is the star of any demonstration in which it can make an appearance, the culture of the 1860s and the way war was made were so radically different that you can go just about anywhere with it. At this point, many, many more students know soldiers who have gone to war, and have probably seen dad, mom, cousin, etc in pictures with their gear. You can major right there on the clothing and uniform. At some point you need to go to the video to show the white smoke wreathing the field, and explain why that uniform is so different from the camphlage we see today. Then there's food/rations. Although most of these kids know how to cook, they don't know how to cook this stuff, and have probably never seen it before. It's been a long time since the Civil War, and kids tend to think anything before they were born was the Dark Ages, so connecting it with some rudimentary scheme of history is helpful, too. (I've done a group timeline exercise that works really well, with personal events on the top in one color, and national/international events on the bottom.) They're going to compare what they see on you to video games, too. Just go with it. They're looking for points of contact. That's a good point to introduce the fact that entertainments were home-made back then too. Lastly, always look for that kid who everyone groans when he raises his hand to answer your question: he's probably the next reenactor.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

I agree.. the weapons are a small part of a soldier's daily life. (But what is tha told adage about being a soldier is 99% boredom, fatigue, and sleeplessness... punctuated by 1% Pure H*ll. or something along those lines.

BUT, and I am part of reenacting tradition and culture that cannot separate the gun from the man. And, in my personal bias, I do not care to.

Ohio Revised Code broadly speaks to:

Antique and antique replica rifles, shotguns, or handguns are treated like modern arms for possession, carrying and purchase purposes.

It is unlawful to sell a handgun to a person under 21, or any firearm to a person under 18. It is unlawful to furnish any firearm to a person who is under 18 or furnish any handgun to a person under 21, except for lawful hunting, sporting or educational purposes.

No person shall knowingly convey, or attempt to convey, or possess any deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance onto any property owned or controlled by, or to any activity held under the auspices of, a board of education, of a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district or of a governing body of a school without authorization.

It is unlawful to discharge a firearm at, in or into an occupied structure or a school safety zone.

It is unlawful to discharge a firearm upon or over a cemetery or within one hundred yards of a cemetery. This does not apply to a person who, while on his own land, discharges a firearm.

It is unlawful to discharge a firearm on a lawn, park, pleasure ground, orchard or other ground appurtenant to a schoolhouse, church, or inhabited dwelling, the property of another or a charitable institution. This does not apply to a person who owns the type of property described and who, while on his own enclosure, discharges a firearm.

And without looking it up, the 'firearms" zone around say a school is a set distance, IIRC, 1000 feet (?)

Prior to Columbine... the "authorization" from a school was a teacher's invite, NUG cleared through the principal. It was verbal. I did so many at the local elementary school where my daughter attended that I received calls to come in, and word-of-mouth spread to other schools as well. I became an official recognized, community Volunteer.

After Columbine, the power of the teachers or the principal was taken away, and replaced with authorization from the School Board. AND, many of us wanted it in writing to carry with us as part of "express written permission.".

The other issues are equally important. And that is the climate now is "knee jerk reaction" and the desire to to err on the side of caution rather than risk a disaster. All it takes is a Granny looking out her kitchen window and calling the police. (We have regular police calls here about suspicious men in back yards that turn out to be kids with toy guns or squirt guns.)

PLUS, one cannot expect Average Joe LEO to be knowledgeable of the exact laws so one can run the very real risk. We had a member of my unit pulled over for a tail out being out, and the officer saw his reenacting guns in the back seat. It took over a day to get him out of jail, and it took 3-4 weeks before his reenacting kit was released.

My broken record mantra is always "Know the laws were you live and travel." But there is little short-term "protection" from the errant officer, snotty prosector, or judge with an agenda.

Many lads I know, across the country haven't a clue and operate on the "I've always done it this way, and thigns have always been fine." And, IMHO they do work well until they don't.
(IMHO, even when you are right udner the Law, defense attorneys are expensive and your stuff can be tied up for months and months when seized as evidence.)

Others' mileage will vary...

Curt

[civwarhistory]

Awesome points Curt.

Rob, you are right, as much of the soldiering life was not burning powder and shot, which does open up the potential for sharing activities of camp, like you mentioned.