New Hampshire School Sued Over Search Of Student’s Truck Based On Legal Gun Ownership
The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has filed a new lawsuit in New Hampshire, challenging what it asserts was an unconstitutional search of an 18-year-old high school senior’s vehicle, which was allegedly conducted solely because school officials knew he was a legal gun owner.
The case, formally titled Harrington v. Crawford, stems from the search of a truck belonging to Hillsboro-Deering High School student Jack Harrington. Harrington, an adult under state law, lawfully owns a handgun and sometimes stored the firearm in his vehicle, in full compliance with all federal and state laws, but always removed it before parking on school grounds.
According to the SAF complaint, after school authorities learned of Harrington’s gun ownership, he was subjected to “aggressive interrogation” by district employees. This culminated in the search of his vehicle, despite school officials having no reason to believe he had brought the firearm onto the property.
The student and his parents both repeatedly refused to consent to the search. As noted in the complaint, “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.”
The SAF argues that using a student’s legal, private gun ownership as the sole basis for harassment and a vehicle search violates constitutional rights.
Bill Sack, SAF Director of Legal Operations, criticized the school district’s actions.
“Being public about exercising your private rights cannot be grounds for being harassed and searched on campus,” Sack said. “The apparent position of the school district here is ‘choose to exercise one right, give away another.’ That’s just not how it works.”
He questioned the precedent the search could set, asking, “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?”
Alan M. Gottlieb, SAF founder and Executive Vice President, expressed confidence in the lawsuit.
“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,” Gottlieb stated. He added that the case is “about as cut and dry as it gets when it comes to infringing on the rights of a citizen,” and the organization looks forward to “vindicating Jack’s rights in court.”
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