An 8th grader was arrested this week for wearing a gun t-shirt to school.
The 8th grader, Jared Marcum, was wearing a shirt with a picture of a gun under the words “Protect Your Right.” The pro gun rights t-shirt apparently broke the school’s dress code and caused an altercation between Marcum and a teacher.
Marcum was suspended and later arrested on two charges of obstruction and disturbing the education process.
Marcum said: “I never thought it would go this far because honestly I don’t see a problem with this. There shouldn’t be a problem with this.”
Logan Middle School said that the 8th graders gun t-shirt violated its dress code because students are not allowed to wear clothes that “disrupt the educational process.”
The school’s policy states : “A student will not dress in a manner that is distractive or indecent, to the extent that it interferes with the teaching and learning process, including wearing any apparel that displays or promotes any drug-, alcohol- or tobacco-related product that is prohibited in school buildings, on school grounds, in school-leased or owned vehicles, and at all school-affiliated functions.”
Marcum’s father, Allen Lardieri, said that the school’s policy mentions drugs, alcohol and tobacco but it does not mention guns. Lardieri also denied that his son became aggressive when he was confronted about the shirt.
Lardieri said : “I don’t’ see how anybody would have an issue with a hunting rifle and NRA put on a t-shirt, especially when policy doesn’t forbid it… He did not violate any school policy. He did not become aggressive… I will go to the ends of the earth, I will call people, I will write letters, I will do everything in the legal realm to make sure this does not happen again.”
What do you think of the 8th grader’s gun t-shirt? Are you surprised that he was suspended and arrested for wearing a pro gun rights shirt?
