If possessing this non-lethal weapon warrants a felony charge, we’re doomed

Two University of Georgia freshmen football players each face two felony charges for possessing and firing a weapon inside their dorm room. On its face, this sounds like a very serious matter until you realize the young men were shooting plastic cups with a BB gun.

Julian Rochester and Chad Clay, both 19 years old, spent nearly 12 hours in a Clarke County, Georgia jail Tuesday after they were arrested for causing $1,000 in damage inside their room by shooting at various targets. A UGA statute prohibits weapons on campus and that apparently includes Daisy BB guns.

But get this: a toy air rifle isn’t the only thing considered a weapon in the university’s extremely broad definition. The statute names anything that shoots a projectile as a weapon. Even something as innocuous as “a straw and spitball,” according to Dawg Nation.

The students’ defense attorney, Kim Stephens, sees the high level of absurdity in this policy and adds this sobering dose of reality:

“Every kid eating with a steak knife in the campus dining hall commits a felony under the statute.”

But let’s deal with the issue at hand: A reasonable punishment for these young men would’ve been to make them pay for the damage they caused. But that would make sense and there’s not a lot of that on today’s college campuses. Instead, it’s these types of ridiculous definitions of a weapon which only leads to gross criminal overreach by universities. And because of that, these two young men get to carry on the rest of their lives with a possible felony charge on their record. That’s ludicrous!

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is offering no sympathies for his players, saying:

“We expect full compliance with the policies of the University and of our football program from all our student-athletes. Information is still being gathered but they will be disciplined in an appropriate manner.”

A felony charge is “an appropriate manner” for shooting red Solo cups with a BB gun?

Smart also said, “It’s something we’re going to have to deal with as a university and a team.”

Agreed, and first up on the list is teaching this institution of “higher learning” what the definition of a weapon is so that any student that gets the urge to send a spitball across their room doesn’t get tagged as a felon.

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