Dad’s Pistol License Pulled After Son Makes Water Gun Threat in School

A Commack father is pursuing legal action after his pistol license was suspended when his 10-year-old son allegedly talked about using a water gun on classmates who had picked on his friends in school.

John Mayer, who originally posted his story on LongIslandFireArms.com, said the issue stemmed from a March 1 incident at Pines Elementary in Hauppauge.

According to Mayer, his son spoke with a few of his classmates about a pushing incident on the schoolyard, and although Mayer’s son was not involved in the scuffle, he and two of the other boys talked about bringing a water, paintball and BB gun with them to the house of the classmates that did the pushing. While Mayer’s lawyer said that none of the boys actually have any of the toy guns mentioned, word about the perceived threats got around to the principal, who not only suspended Mayer’s son for two days, but also filed a police report.

“What the school did was atrocious,” Mayer’s lawyer, James Murtha, said. “He’s a good kid, who has been discriminated against severely by the school district.”

According to Mayer’s lawyer, the other two boys involved in the conversation were not suspended.

A spokesperson from the Hauppauge School District said that privacy laws prevent district administrators from speaking about the incident. The district released the following statement:

"Please be advised that the Hauppauge Public School District followed appropriate protocols with respect to this matter. The District is guided by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that protects the privacy of students, and thus cannot provide comment relative to any of its students."

“If this wasn't bad enough, the police were sent to my residence and I was advised that my guns may be taken from me. This can't be happening, I thought. But it was,” Mayer said.

That following Monday, Mayer received a call from the pistol licensing office stating that police would be at his house to remove his guns and suspend his license.

“I attempted to explain that this must be a mistake, no wrong doing occurred on my part. My son has no access to any of my guns. The officer that came to my residence saw that all my guns were secured. Pistol Licensing was not interested in my side of the story. They were only interested in what happened with my 10-year-old son in school,” he said.

When Mayer asked police when his license would be restored, he said that police told him he would have to wait until his son is 18 years old and moves out of the house. According to police, if Mayer wants his handguns back sooner, he could pursue an administrative hearing or other legal recourse. However, those are pricey endeavors.

“The cost, so far, about $6,500 monetarily. Emotionally, the cost is far, far higher. That can't be calculated. All my handguns are gone, my license is suspended and my long arms are out of the house waiting to be sold at a local store,” Mayer said.

Murtha said that Suffolk County Police not only hampered Mayer’s rights to have a gun, but also harassed and threatened to embarrass him in front of his neighbors. He also stated that police threatened to interrogate the 10-year-old without Meyer’s permission.

Police said that they could not comment on the specifics of the case due to privacy issues.

A spokesperson from the department said that a final agency determination has not yet been made in regards to Mayer's New York State pistol license. Police released the following statement:

“The Suffolk County Police Department is respectful of, and compliant with, the Second Amendment, New York State law and case law as it pertains to an individual's right to bear arms. The Suffolk County Police Department also has an obligation to ensure the safety of people in the community, especially children, while this investigation continues.” 

Murtha said that he is about to get very active on the case.

“It’s completely absurd,” he said. However, Murtha does not find the case surprising. He said that Suffolk County has a reputation for stepping on individuals’ gun privileges. “We’ve been involved in cases and situations where police have severely injured or hampered someone’s rights,” he said.

The attorney said that his client would likely be pressing charges against both Suffolk County Police and Hauppauge School District in federal court.

“We see enough wrong doing on both parties to be going toward a federal cause of action because of the civil rights implication,” Murtha said.

Mayer is now advocating a change in New York State's gun laws to one more similar to Maryland Senate Bill 1058, also known as the “Reasonable School Discipline Act of 2013." He said that it would protect school-age children, their rights and those of their parents.

The bill is being introduced by a Maryland lawmaker, who believes that schools' "zero tolerance" policies are bordering on ridiculous. One incident the bill points to includes a case in which, a 7-year-old child received a two-day suspension from school for biting his Pop Tart into the shape of a gun. Another points to a case in which a 5-year-old girl was suspended for talking about playing with a Hello Kitty bubble gun, that blows bubbles when the trigger is pulled.

The legislation would prohibit a principal from suspending or expelling a student who makes a hand shape or gesture resembling a gun, but authorizes a principal to suspend or expel a student who performs a certain action as a direct act of violence against another student on school property.

"Schools need to understand that 5- to 12-year-olds pointing their fingers in harmless gestures, are not the threats they need to subdue. What we need to subdue is the army of over zealous, overpaid, school administrators that suddenly have become the 'finger pointing police,'" Mayer said.

The legislation also prohibits "a principal from suspending or expelling a student who brings to school or possesses on school property a picture of a gun, a computer image of a gun, a facsimile of a gun, or any other object that resembles a gun but serves another purpose."

A donation page has been started on the Long Island Firearms website to help Mayer pay for his legal fees.

*This article has been corrected. It originally stated that police were said to have interrogated the 10-year-old. However, James Murtha said that police threatened to interrogate John Mayer's son.