Student and His 4th Amendment Right: Let's Take a Look

Just because a person is known to be a gun owner doesn’t mean that authorities can search his or her vehicle at a whim without regard to Fourth Amendment protections.

Most of us would agree with that statement simply out of respect for the U.S. Constitution. And, in fact, that’s the very argument the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is making in a court battle just launched in Washington State.

As background, 18-year-old Hillsboro-Deering High School senior Jack Harrington lawfully owns a handgun and sometimes keeps it in his truck in full compliance with all federal and state laws. However, he always removes the gun when he drives his truck to school.

According to an SAF news release, when school authorities became aware of Harrington’s gun ownership on April 24, he was subjected to aggressive interrogation by district employees, which culminated in his vehicle being searched without consent. The school had no reason to believe Harrington brought his firearm to school, and no firearm was found during the invasive and unconstitutional search.

Bill Sack, SAF director of legal operations, said that being public about exercising your private rights cannot be grounds for being harassed and searched on campus.

“The apparent position of the school district here is ‘choose to exercise one right, give away another,’” Sack said. “That’s just not how it works. If simply being a gun owner is legal justification to be harassed and searched by authorities, what would stop them from submitting gun owners like Jack to searches every day? And what’s their proposed solution to avoid that abuse, that he sells his privately owned firearm?”