Author: markfirearmslawyernet

  • Proposed Uniform School Marshals Legislation for Washington & Other Statesy

    School Marshals—Training Standards—Certification—Immunity from Liability.

    The following discussion includes certain draft proposals that we are proposing as uniform School Marshal legislation for all the states to consider. The language is cast in terms of Washington state but provides a template that can easily be adapted to other states. The advantage of providing training programs that are standardized as much as possible is in the potential growth of  state-of-the-art multistate training facilities that will benefit from economies of scale by training and certifying School Marshals from across whole regions.

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  • Proposal for School Marshals in Washington State

    The following proposal for School Marshals in Washington state is republished from the March 15, 2018 Spokesman Review.

    There are once again many heated discussions about how to stop the carnage in our schools. A few years ago, we led a group of trial attorneys through an analysis of what it will take for Washington state school districts to seriously tackle the issue of protecting schools. It is apparent that Parkland School District in Florida will have to pay huge sums for its failure to anticipate mass murder that was very foreseeable.

    School Marshals- Not Teachers with guns. Many school boards and legislatures in other states have already embarked on a policy of authorizing armed personnel within school premises. Federal and Washington state law both leave it up to school boards to designate who will be armed in Washington schools. Nevertheless, most educators and school boards flatly reject proposals for arming teachers with guns.

    There is reason to believe that some Washington state schools are already taking quiet steps, however. Teachers who choose to undertake the training and responsibility of being a school marshal should not be denied the same opportunity to serve as certified School Marshals that we are proposing for other qualified personnel.

    Public Duty Doctrine It should not be a surprise to anyone that such matters are insurance driven. Washington state’s Public Duty Doctrine dictates that a policy decision not to deploy armed protection in the schools exposes school districts to very low levels of liability. That is because it is a pure policy decision and therefore immune from liability for almost any accidents that occur.

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  • Implementing the Law Enforcement Officers’ Safety Act

    RE: OPINION LETTER RELATING TO IMPLEMENTATION OF
    LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS’ SAFETY ACT

    I. PURPOSE

    The following opinion answers questions related to questions raised by the WASPC as to whether a municipal law enforcement agency exposes itself to additional liability by certifying retired law enforcement officers as having met Criminal Justice Training Commission standards for firearms qualification. The purpose of the LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS’ SAFETY ACT OF 2004 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 926B and 926C) is to supplement active law enforcement personnel in order to deter crime and prevent terrorist activity. The federal law accomplishes this by anticipating that additional armed law enforcement personnel that have already been trained will be present within each jurisdiction as officers travel from one jurisdiction to another while on business, vacationing or for any other reason. (more…)

  • Use of Deadly Force: the Unarmed Assailant

    Shooting 1971 Summary.    The following is a summary of information presented by one of our members at our monthly Action Training Group meeting in July. The purpose of the presentation in Spokane Valley was to initiate discussion about self-defense issues so we can start creating Reality Based scenarios that develop situational awareness for armed citizens, church safety teams and law enforcement personnel in the Spokane and North Idaho areas.  Criminal defense attorneys & civil practitioners also need to understand the dynamics of what actually occurs during the decision making process under high stress situations. (more…)

  • He Trains My Hands to Protect the Body of Christ

    The following is an excerpt from Chapter 3 dealing with church safety & liability issues from our book entitled He Trains My Hands for Battle.

    Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

    Ezekiel 3:17-18

    Training Your Security Team. The number of professional training firms has grown. One of the most well recognized national ministries in the field of church safety is Sheepdog Ministries. Get involved with national church safety ministries and network with local ministries and other church teams. We have groups meeting in Kootenai County, Idaho and the Spokane, Washington area to share information and training opportunities.

    Your team needs to participate in regular Reality Based Training (RBT) to avoid exposure to the risk of church liability. Such events involve volunteer actors playing roles such as an active shooter, innocent bystander, plain clothes law enforcement officer who enters the room with weapon drawn, etc, These events normally require simulated ammunition or Simunition or might even be conducted with SIRT laser pistols. The key is to create the stress of a chaotic life threatening event that causes team members to react to foreseeable situations.

    Well recognized legal precedents provide that law enforcement agencies that fail to train for foreseeable situations will be held liable.

    Firearms and use of Force Training: Training must be tailored to avoid specific church liabilities in a safe and caring atmosphere.  Potential church liability is a compelling factor when anticipating the allegation that armed school personnel are not in compliance with the guidelines for law enforcement officers spelled out by the U.S Supreme Court in Popow vs Margate, 476 F.Supp. 1237 (Dist. N.J. 1979) (Officer’s firearms training consisted of going to a range twice a year; no training with respect to low light conditions, moving targets or firing in residential areas. Entirely foreseeable that an officer from the City of Margate, a largely residential area, would have to pursue a moving suspect at night under low-light conditions). See also Young v. City of Providence, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1847 (R.I. 2004).  (more…)

  • Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act (LEOSA) & the Air Force

    Purpose. Certain law enforcement officers who work for the Air Force, have requested that the Law Office of Mark Knapp draft an Opinion Letter analyzing issues related to Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act (LEOSA) Identification set forth below. The officers have indicated that they have been treated differently than other DOD and Air Force employees and that LEOs and their families are endangered thereby.

    Facts. Law enforcement members of the 375th Security Forces Squadron have raised certain issues pertaining to the Qualified Law Enforcement Officer Identification cards. The LEOS asserted that their right to carry a weapon off duty is being violated by Air Force policy. One grievance has been filed via the officers’ collective bargaining representative which is National Association of Independent Labor (NAIL) Local 19. The grievance raised issues under the Second Amendment and Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act (LEOSA) of 2004 and as amended in 2008. (more…)

  • Brief in Support of Retired LEO Denied Federal LEOSA Card

    Petitioner has standing and states a claim upon which relief may be granted because LEOSA and the Administrative Procedure Act is appropriate for the relief sought. Johnson v. New York State Dep’t of Corr. Servs presents facts that are very different from the facts presented herein.  In Johnson, the Plaintiffs asserted a right to carry under LEOSA.  The court  held that Congress did not intend to create a private cause of action, but rather a private right. The Johnson court stated:

    For the same reasons as with consideration of the second Cort factor, the creation of a federal remedy would be inconsistent with LEOSA’s statutory scheme because Congress left the states with the authority to issue concealed firearm certifications. Therefore, this factor also weighs against the determination that Congress intended to establish a private cause of action.

    Johnson, supra (emphasis added).  (more…)

  • Personal Self-Defense is Fundamental to Liberty & Economic Freedom

    The cartels just across the border from El Paso, Texas erupted in violence several years ago. Ciudad Juárez was ground zero in Mexico’s war against drug cartels. The violence spread until citizens in Michoacán organized what became known as Autodefensas or self-defense organizations.

    Dr. José Manuel Mireles, the leader of the self-defense group in the Mexican state of Michoacán, was released from prison on the morning of May 12, 2017, after serving nearly three years in prison. Cartel Land is a documentary film that tells the story of how, under Dr. Mireles, the Autodefensas, recruited and trained fellow citizens to stop the Knights Templar in Tepalcatepec. Starting in February, 2013, the citizens of Tepalcatepec confronted the Knights Templar cartel, which had been terrorizing the population of the Tierra Caliente area of Michoacán. (more…)

  • Spokane Church & Action Training Group: Use of Force to Detain

    On June 5, 2017, several members of the Action Training Group, Inc. met at Genesis Church in Spokane to discuss church security, use of force to detain and citizen’s arrest laws for church safety teams in Washington state. Rustin Rathbun, presented the information for the Genesis Safety Team and the ATG. A good discussion of Washington law followed. We had some very informative discussion as to when Church Safety teams are permitted by law to detain individuals who commit crimes on church premises.

    The following points are from my notes and include several conclusions reached by my own independent research and conclusions. The conclusions herein are my own and should not be construed as legal advice. The facts of each specific situation dictate a very wide range of different legal outcomes.

    The starting point for church safety teams is that even though a team of volunteers is not licensed to perform professional security operations, the church itself comes under the laws that pertain to shopkeepers. (more…)

  • ATG Presents Safety Team Programs for North Idaho & Spokane Area Churches

    Action Training Group Monthly Membership Meeting. Kenny Moore spoke at our monthly ATG Membership Meeting at the Post Falls Cabela’s on May 26. Kenny led the security team at the Candlelight Church team in Coeur d’Alene when they got started.

    Kenny, a retired Lt. Colonel, USMC, shared that the best approach is to look at the very best current Church Security available in the United States, and tailor programs to meet the specific needs of each church environment. (more…)