Mass. school bus driver arrested after students find gun on seat

[Hot Sauce]

+1

This is the stuff that keeps the Sons of Liberty spinning in their graves.

They're practically on a Gravitron at this point.

[Rex G]

Training/proficiency would have prevented this.

Yes, indeed; training, proficiency, and, I will add, trousers with better pockets. The front pockets, particularly, of some trousers will tend to dump their contents. (The story did not specify whether or not a pocket holster was involved.)

[Wendell]

I have to agree, if the part about seizing all his guns is correct. The job’s a job: he deserved to get fired, and I can see the powers that be suspending his CCW under the circumstances, harsh though it may be. But how this gets turned into confiscating all his guns is a concept that escapes me.

In Massachusetts, to posess a handgun, one must hold a valid (Massachusetts) LTC. Absent the LTC, a valid FID might allow him to retain his long guns, were he to have an FID (which he might not have).

[fly out]

In Massachusetts, to posess a handgun, one must hold a valid (Massachusetts) LTC. Absent the LTC, a valid FID might allow him to retain his long guns, were he to have an FID (which he might not have).

No offense, but we keep hearing why this is so. And yet, it cannot be so. At least, not in America. I swear, if we could vote about six states off the island, we'd all have a lot less drama.

[olstyn]

No offense, but we keep hearing why this is so. And yet, it cannot be so. At least, not in America. I swear, if we could vote about six states off the island, we'd all have a lot less drama.

NY, NJ, MA, CA, OR, and WA (or at least, major chunks of them) really probably should just join Canada. Their laws are more like Canadian laws anyway.

[HeavyDuty]

I have to agree, if the part about seizing all his guns is correct. The job’s a job: he deserved to get fired, and I can see the powers that be suspending his CCW under the circumstances, harsh though it may be.

But how this gets turned into confiscating all his guns is a concept that escapes me.

This is pretty much where I am. The guy undoubtedly knew that carry both on the job and at a school was illegal. But if they’re pulling all his firearms before conviction, that’s excessive - and completely expected in MA.

I have a love/hate relationship with MA - it’s a beautiful state that is neck deep in American history, but the attitudes there about governmental power are crushing. Cradle and grave, indeed.

[Wise_A]

I used to drive one of these things. And I'm here, so....

Any vehicle used to transport students is considered school grounds for the purposes of things like smoking or carrying a gun. Furthermore, the guy is going to be on school property, so he's going to violate that part anyway. He's both a commercial driver--and a passenger/schoolbus driver--and a gun owner. The guy has an affirmative responsibility to know the law. This is Part 1 of why he can go fuck himself.

Part 2 of He Can Go Fuck Himself is because carrying a gun on a school bus is pants-on-head retarded. It is absolutely routine to find yourself wading waist-deep through children to get to a problem in the middle or back of the bus. It's pretty common to find yourself down on one knee in the same. A fully-loaded bus is just about the most inhospitable carry environment I can imagine. When I drove, the only thing I carried in my pocket was my credentials and my cell phone. Pen went on my clipboard at the front, and everything else went into a bag with a padlock that I tucked between my seat and the first-row bumper. The idea that this halfwit thought it was a smart idea to stick a gun in his pocket while driving is unbelievable. I've had duty-type holsters I wouldn't trust in that environment.

Part 3 is that he didn't self-report. And the rule for everything is "report yourself". You're allowed to have accidents. It's okay--plenty of people have them, they're expected, even if they're your fault. But the rule is that you tell the truth, including how you fucked up. If you do that, even if you're at fault, you're generally okay. Lie about it, you get fired. Immediately. This genius thought that the kids were somehow going to keep their mouths shut about finding his friggin' gun, and he was going to get away with it. Which makes me think, as a (former) fellow driver, what the hell else was he willing to lie about? The guy has no business driving around 66 of Somebody Else's Kids. Not to mention a 34,000-pound vehicle that can obliterate grandma's Civic.

As far as the confiscation, it depends on how exactly the permitting works over there. Where I am (different state), it's shall-issue, permit for all handguns, issued by a judge. So the judge that handles pistol permits for my county can read that you were Really Stupid and decide that you either shouldn't have your carry anymore, or just shred your license. Reading some guidelines from Massachusetts, it would appear they fucked up and made a pistol permit the same as a CCW permit. So when they suspended this guy's carry for being Really Stupid, they had to go take his handguns. Also remember that this is being reported on by the media, as was told to them by whatever dipshit in the local department is assigned to talk to them.

The only hope he has is if the gun is generic-enough that the kids descriptions are too vague. The incident would have been captured on the bus cameras, but probably not well-enough to ID the gun if he jammed it right back in his pocket. This would take a profoundly forgiving jury as well, since that's not the sort of thing kids generally make up. They'd have to believe the kids formulated a conspiracy to jam this guy up, and then have every one of them on the same page to keep the story straight. And protip: two kids can't keep a bullshit story straight for more than 30 seconds.

There's better cases to get worked-up about than this loser.

[ST911]

Part 2 of He Can Go Fuck Himself is because carrying a gun on a school bus is pants-on-head retarded. It is absolutely routine to find yourself wading waist-deep through children to get to a problem in the middle or back of the bus. It's pretty common to find yourself down on one knee in the same. A fully-loaded bus is just about the most inhospitable carry environment I can imagine. When I drove, the only thing I carried in my pocket was my credentials and my cell phone. Pen went on my clipboard at the front, and everything else went into a bag with a padlock that I tucked between my seat and the first-row bumper. The idea that this halfwit thought it was a smart idea to stick a gun in his pocket while driving is unbelievable. I've had duty-type holsters I wouldn't trust in that environment.

Legal stuff notwithstanding, I've found carrying on school busses to be little different than any other public transit. True concealment, quality gear, and situational awareness. "Average" CCWers can be trained to do it, and it doesn't require micro guns. There are decent ways to do off-body, too - with its own caveats.

[Wise_A]

Legal stuff notwithstanding, I've found carrying on school busses to be little different than any other public transit. True concealment, quality gear, and situational awareness. "Average" CCWers can be trained to do it, and it doesn't require micro guns. There are decent ways to do off-body, too - with its own caveats.

I sure would like to see that bus, because it sure doesn't jibe with any 63-student grade school run I've been on.

Aside from the fact that there's not a lot of a point to it. The fuck're you going to do, pop the service door and shoot out of it? It's a 30,000+ pound vehicle, the service door closes with 90-120 psi of air pressure unless you're on some old manual-open piece-of-shit. Your best bet of all the kids living is to drive out of whatever you're in, and over it if it doesn't get out of the way.

[Caballoflaco]

Nope, nobody has ever hopped on a school bus while kids are loading and unloading, and taken hostages.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013...hostage_crisis

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbc...mp/ncna1266514