The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has initiated a lawsuit in New Hampshire, contesting what it describes as an unconstitutional search of a high school senior’s vehicle based solely on his status as a legal gun owner.
The lawsuit, titled Harrington v. Crawford, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. It centers on Jack Harrington, an 18-year-old student at Hillsboro-Deering High School. According to SAF, Harrington legally owns a handgun and sometimes stored it in his truck while complying with all federal and state laws. SAF states that Harrington always removed the firearm from his vehicle before arriving at school.
School officials reportedly became aware of Harrington’s lawful gun ownership and subjected him to questioning by district employees. This led to a search of his vehicle without his consent or that of his parents. No firearm was found during the search.
“Being public about exercising your private rights cannot be grounds for being harassed and searched on campus,” said Bill Sacd, SAF director of legal operations. “The apparent position of the school district here is ‘choose to exercise one right, give away another.’ 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?”
The complaint notes: “…after the Interrogation in which Jack repeatedly refused to consent to a search and after Jack’s parents were contacted by phone and similarly refused to consent to a search, Defendants searched the Subject Vehicle anyway, finding no firearm.”
Alan M. Gottlieb, SAF founder and executive vice president, commented: “This is the type of fearmongering response we’d expect elsewhere around the country, but not in a state that allows its adult residents to legally own and possess firearms. This case is about as cut and dry as it gets when it comes to infringing on the rights of a citizen, and we look forward to vindicating Jack’s rights in court.”
Republished with permission from Second Amendment Foundation.
