Students at Fort Myers High Schools Detained for Bringing Guns to School
As Miami-Dade firearms criminal defense attorneys, we were disappointed to see an article about misbehavior around firearms by two high school students. The Fort Myers News-Press reported May 7 that a 15-year-old male juvenile was detained for bringing a handgun to Fort Myers High School that week. That incident closely followed the discovery of a semi-automatic handgun on another 15-year-old at Lehigh Senior High School, named as David Abel Rodriguez. That teenager was arrested. Charges against the first teenager were pending, according to the newspaper, and officers continued to investigate the incident.
According to the newspaper, the unnamed juvenile had the gun in his duffel bag during class. He was not accused of using it inappropriately. Two other students reported the gun to the school’s assistant principal, who in turn called the Fort Myers police. School authorities immediately detained the teenager. After a search turned up the handgun, he was taken to Vista Behavioral Crisis Center, a psychiatric facility. In the earlier incident, Rodriguez was caught trespassing, the newspaper reported. When a deputy stopped him, that deputy found the semi-automatic handgun. The charges against Rodriguez were not reported, but could include trespassing as well as possession of a firearm by a minor under 18.
Our West Palm Beach gun crimes defense lawyers don’t condone this type of behavior, in part because bringing a gun to school could easily land that gun in the hands of people who don’t know how to use it properly. But we can’t help but notice that neither teen was accused of doing anything dangerous with the firearms. Rather, all of the crimes that are likely to be charged against them, aside from the possible trespassing charge, spring from their status as juveniles. A minor may not possess a true firearm in Florida unless he or she is lawfully hunting under adult supervision. (BB guns, gas and air guns and electronic weapons are an exception.) Furthermore, most people of any age are prohibited from having guns on a school campus. These are crimes that spring from the teens’ circumstances and status, not from violent actions on their part. We hope authorities take this into account when deciding their penalties.
Law offices of Sebastian John Balliro, P.A. believes that every law-abiding Floridian should have the right to own and use guns legally and safely. Lead attorney Sebastian Balliro is an NRA referral attorney, and several of our lawyers are hunters, marksmen and collectors of firearms. That means we understand that state and federal gun laws can be a morass, and we sympathize with people who are criminally charged because of overreaching laws that seek to limit law-abiding people’s rights to use their Second Amendment rights. Our Fort Lauderdale weapons crimes criminal defense attorneys represent people accused of all types of gun crimes, from nonviolent “status” crimes like these to serious or violent crimes with considerable penalties. We also represent people caught in the civil justice system because of a firearms licensing or permitting problem, administrative investigations and other actions that stand between you and your weapons.
If you’re accused of a firearms crime in Florida or need help resolving a gun-related matter, Balliro can help. To set up a free consultation, please contact us online or call 1-866-FIREARMS toll-free from anywhere in Florida.
