Schools and Colleges

[dariks]

I am a contractor and frequently have to perform service work at public schools and several local colleges. I was under the impression that I was not allowed to have a weapon in my car unless I was picking someone up or dropping them off, but after reading this I'm not so sure.

I know, without a doubt, that I am not allowed to carry my weapon on my person while at these schools. My question is "Am I allowed to leave the weapon locked in my vehicle while it is parked on school property?"

It is not an offense for a nonstudent adult to possess a firearm, if such firearm is contained within a private vehicle operated by the adult and is not handled by such adult, or by any other person acting with the expresses or implied consent of such adult, while such vehicle is on school property.

[Guest Kingfish]

is contained within a private vehicle operated by the adult and is not handled by such adult

Could be interpreted several ways. Could be interpreted that you can have the weapon in the vehicle as long as you are operating the vehicle.

Although if the weapon is unloaded and out of reach with ammo separate form the weapon, you are not technically in possession of a weapon.

Oh and your work truck may not be considered a "private vehicle."

[Guest GlocKingTN]

My understanding is "NO", you may not have on the school grounds, period. Unless you are picking up or dropping off your child. Thats what I have been told!

[dariks]

Could be interpreted several ways. Could be interpreted that you can have the weapon in the vehicle as long as you are operating the vehicle.

Although if the weapon is unloaded and out of reach with ammo separate form the weapon, you are not technically in possession of a weapon.

Oh and your work truck may not be considered a "private vehicle."

Actually, my work truck IS my personal vehicle. I do not have a company owned vehicle.

[Guest db99wj]

I was under the impression that you could as long as it is in you vehicle. The part of the law that is quoted in the first post clearly says it is ok as long as it is in the vehicle.

It is not an offense for a nonstudent adult to possess a firearm, if such firearm is contained within a private vehicle operated by the adult and is not handled by such adult, or by any other person acting with the expresses or implied consent of such adult, while such vehicle is on school property.

[dralarms]

I agree, as long as you leave it in your vehicle you should be fine. I do work in schools also. I disarm but do NOT remove my holster. No one has even looked at me twice. Including the SRO's. Be careful not to "rearm" until you are off the school property.

I keep a "sportsafe" in my vehicle for just such an occasion. Right before arriving I disarm and after leaving I rearm.

[Guest Len]

Agreed. I work at a state college where we teach the TN Carry Permit class. We tell the "students" (this is offered through continuing education, so they are really "customers") to keep the gun locked in the car during class. (We go to a range off-campus for the shooting portion of the course.)

I agree, as long as you leave it in your vehicle you should be fine. I do work in schools also. I disarm but do NOT remove my holster. No one has even looked at me twice. Including the SRO's. Be careful not to "rearm" until you are off the school property.

I keep a "sportsafe" in my vehicle for just such an occasion. Right before arriving I disarm and after leaving I rearm.

[Guest c.a.s.]

Thats not what they did at my school... About halfway through the year someone said something to freak out the administratoin, adn they locked down the school for most of a class and searched the entire campus. THey confiscated several guns from students (One had it in his truck because they were moving, the other it was his dad's ad it was locked in the back window in a rack. They called the dad to come down, unlock it, just so they could take it away!) that were in cars. They were expelled, they never announced if there were any charges, but it raised a HUGE ruckus with the student body, which a fair percentage knows that particular law. Of course, there was also the drug confiscatoins, but everyone know who was going to get caught so no one cared about them. (They weren't very liked, they caused too much trouble for others)

[Guest dotsun]

I am a contractor and frequently have to perform service work at public schools and several local colleges. I was under the impression that I was not allowed to have a weapon in my car unless I was picking someone up or dropping them off, but after reading this I'm not so sure.

I know, without a doubt, that I am not allowed to carry my weapon on my person while at these schools. My question is "Am I allowed to leave the weapon locked in my vehicle while it is parked on school property?"

It is not an offense for a nonstudent adult to possess a firearm, if such firearm is contained within a private vehicle operated by the adult and is not handled by such adult, or by any other person acting with the expresses or implied consent of such adult, while such vehicle is on school property.

I agree with your reading of this part of code. I've arrived at the same conclusion and I'm in the exact same boat as you. I just hope the local DA agrees with us if we're ever 'caught'.

[dariks]

I keep a "sportsafe" in my vehicle for just such an occasion. Right before arriving I disarm and after leaving I rearm.

Good idea! This sounds like a great compromise and I would feel better if it was in a safe rather than locked in the glove box.

I agree with your reading of this part of code. I've arrived at the same conclusion and I'm in the exact same boat as you. I just hope the local DA agrees with us if we're ever 'caught'.

Isn't there something in the law that refers to reasonable intelligence and interpretation? I don't see any other way this law could be interpreted. I, however, hope to never have to test whether the DA agrees or not.

[dralarms]

Dariks,

I have gone as far as to have to do an emergency service call at of all places the local police station . I was driving my wifes explorer and had no "lockable" solution. It is posted no gun area and has the right "signage" so I did the only thing a red blooded American from TN could do. I walked right in to the police station and plopped it down on the captians desk and told him he had to hold it for me since I had no way of locking it up. Didn't even raise an eyebrow. Did my thing and took possesion of my firearm. He didn't even "check" it. Just laid it in his desk until I was done and smiled and handed it back to me.

[Guest WingedSnake]

Like a lot of areas surrounding concealed carry, there's law, and then there's policy. The TCA may say "it is not an offense", but each individual school may have their own interpretation of the code, and may have additional policies and procedures that are applicable only to that campus.

For your contracting work, I'd think that technically, you'd have to obey whatever policies that particular school has instituted, in addition to the TCA laws. This potentially puts you in a lot of catch-22 situations, though, obviously. If I were you, I'd keep it locked in a gun safe in the car to maximize safety if your car were broken into on campus, and I'd not mention to anyone that it's there. As others have said, concealed is concealed.