Student arrested for not having guns

I know that looks like a typo, but it’s not.  Thanks to Fits for the link, here’s the entire (very short) story from the local New Mexico station:

ALBUQUERQUE—A University of New Mexico student has been arrested on charges of unlawfully carrying guns on campus.UNM Police Chief Kathy Guimond says Kevin Boyar, 19, was arrested Tuesday.

No guns were recovered from Boyar’s dormitory room, but Guimond says officers found evidence that weapons had been in the room.

Guimond tells the Daily Lobo that police found guns and ammunition at Boyar’s parents’ home in Albuquerque.

The weapons included an assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, a 22-caliber rifle and an action rifle.

Guimond says Boyar was arrested on camps without incident.

She says additional charges could be filed.

Aside from where it says “action rifle”, I’m sort of confused as to why they arrested him.  They found “evidence” that the guns had been in his dorm room?  What evidence?  A shell casing?  A pistol rug?  I have a hard time believing that they could conclusively prove that he had the guns in his dorm room,  especially since they then recovered the guns from his parent’s house.

Something about this arrest is rubbing me the wrong way – I can admit that if they have conclusive evidence that proves her broke a law, that’s one thing, but I have the strangest feeling that they’re arresting him without conclusive proof that he had the weapons in his room.

9 Comments

  1. Maybe it is from living in MASS for so long but you are assuming they think they need real evidence. Around here just knowing you are a gun owner puts you beneath scum in lots of folks books. The Cops seem to think they are better than the students and so they do what they want. Just another sign we are going down a slippery slope with the folks in charge. . .

  2. That’s beyond belief. Hopefully a judge with a brain throws the case out on its ear.

    I bet there were guns, but he flushed them down the toilet! They should have kicked his door in in the middle of the night all ninja’d up.

    Maybe one of the gun’s had set on the table so long there was a “dust shadow.” That’d be pretty good evidence that something shaped like a gun had once been in the room.

  3. It seems that the evidence was a “shotgun cleaning kit, a range finder and photos depicting guns in the residence.” (link)

  4. Yeah, the original article that I linked to didn’t have that information – plus he only confessed after he was arrested.

    I’m still having a hard time buying this one. My gut instinct is feels like his roommate set him up for some reason, but I can’t prove that.

  5. He confessed? Why on earth would he do the cops job for them? I wish I understood why people get this uncontrolable urge to divulge their entire life in those rooms.

  6. Exactly. If anything, i’d taunt the police into screwing up when questioning me. I would answer any and all answers with “suck it”, and “you’re a bunch of douches”.

  7. All you have to say is “I choose to exercise my 5th Amendment Rights and will not answer any questions without legal counsel present.”

    The photos are kind of damning evidence though–what a doofus.

    Copy editor probably missed that the word “bolt” was missing from the description; I can only assume they meant “Bolt-action” rifle. Either that or the word “Lever.”, as in Lever action. Makes you wonder what they’re defining as an “assault rifle”, too. They were all long guns, which otherwise any 19 year old could buy and own.

  8. Heh… my original thought was that the ‘action rifle’… TOOK ACTION, and left the damning evidence!!!
    My biggest concern about this article is this: NM law apparently makes it a crime to carry any firearm on a college campus, for any reason, even if there is no violent action or intent. It seems that they deemed this apparently harmless event reason enough to go and search his parents’ house, and possibly (probably) charge them, as well.This makes UNM, and possibly the whole state, a serious “place to avoid” in my book.

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