Skip to main content

Freedom of Speech? Not in High School!

Freedom of Speech? Not in High School!

Airsoft_FLyndon Johnson was president when I was in high school, so I can't claim much familiarity with modern instructional norms, but a case in Massachusetts reported on the Guns Save Lives website makes it clear that the Bill of Rights is not getting a lot of emphasis these days.

Tito Velez, a student at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School in Taunton, Mass., was dressed up for a night out with his girlfriend. The pair grabbed some airsoft guns and posed for pictures taken by his father. Their gun handling was impeccable, with muzzles pointed to the floor and fingers correctly positioned off the triggers. This was not a case of youngsters aping a poster of some gangsta rappers; the photo shows some well-groomed teenagers posing in a living room with some distinctively non-lethal airsoft guns.

That would have all been fine if Velez had just kept the photos on his computer, but he posted them to Facebook. Authorities at the school saw them and suspended both teens for 10 days. In a plaintive Facebook posting, Velez said:

"I understand it was wrong to take a picture with guns but come on. My dad took the photos, in my house. The guns were pointed at the floor, on safety, mock mags in, and our fingers weren't on the trigger. We had a responsible adult and he isn't against Airsoft. He knows gun safety and he keeps my guns, i dont have them unless im out at the fields."


No, Tito, it's not wrong to take a picture with guns, airsoft or real, in your house or elsewhere. It's exercising your First Amendment rights, which were upheld for high school students in the Tinker decision when I was in high school in 1969. The notion that a school has the authority to police student speech outside school hours and off school grounds is preposterous even by today's extremely debased standards of civil liberty.

Let's make the disclaimer that the GSL site only mentions one side of this controversy, and perhaps there are circumstances here about which we don't know. But there have been enough cases of hysterical overreaction by school authorities that Velez' story is hardly beyond belief.

I've said it here before, and I'll reiterate it. I'm a lot more worried about the First Amendment than the Second, because while the right to bear arms has expanded in recent years (except in benighted spots like California or Connecticut), freedom of speech is being eroded a little every day in incidents like this one. The local school board needs to intervene to rein in its overzealous administrators and return Velez and his girlfriend to class.


Alternatively, every kid in that school should post a picture holding a gun. Let's see them throw them all out.

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Recommended Articles

Recent Videos

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Guns

MAC-10 Submachine Gun

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Guns

SIG Rattler

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Gear

Dr. Will Dabbs Flies a Spitfire Airplane

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Guns

Daewoo AR-100

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Gear

Shooting Blanks

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Gear

5.7 Elite Ammunition

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Guns

Laser Pistols

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Learn

The Famous CAR-15's Path to Modern Combat Rifles

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Guns

Mossberg 590s Review

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Gear

The Latest from Black Hills Ammunition

The Headrest Safe is the ultimate in discreet storage for your valuables (gun, money, credit cards, jewelry, medicines)....
Gear

Headrest Safe – a new way to secure your firearm.

Firearms News Magazine Covers Print and Tablet Versions

GET THE MAGAZINE Subscribe & Save

Digital Now Included!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Give a Gift   |   Subscriber Services

PREVIEW OUR CURRENT ISSUE

Buy Digital Single Issues

Magazine App Logo

Don't miss an issue.
Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet.

Buy Single Digital Issue on the Firearms News App

Other Magazines

See All Other Magazines

Special Interest Magazines

See All Special Interest Magazines

Phone Icon

Get Digital Access.

All Firearms News subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets.

To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine.

Get Digital Access

Not a Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Enjoying What You're Reading?

Get a Full Year
of Guns & Ammo
& Digital Access.

Offer only for new subscribers.

Subscribe Now