Gun found in diaper bag near toddlers, Texas School for the Deaf says

A team member found a handgun inside a diaper bag, near toddlers playing on the floor, at at a family retreat held at the Texas School for the Deaf, school officials said. The discovery did not trigger a lockdown and police were not contacted.
“Those involved in running the weekend event were notified but a high ranking executive team leader overruled the entire staff and prevented proper lockdown procedures from taking place,” one participant said in an email, adding “failure to follow proper protocol put all of the families, children and staff members at risk, had the situation gone badly.”

After waiting a week to respond to a list of detailed questions provided by KXAN — including whether the gun was loaded — TSD spokesperson Gabriel Cardenas refused to comment. Instead, he forwarded us a letter dated June 9 — four days after the incident — sent to parents the day after KXAN first reached out seeking comment on June 8. The letter was signed by TSD Chief Financial Officer Justin Wedel.

TSD sent KXAN the letter on June 15.

Shortly after 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 5, a team member working in the Early Learning Center discovered the gun in a diaper bag “nearby” to where toddlers were playing on the floor, Wedel wrote in the letter. That person “immediately messaged for assistance.” It is unclear who was contacted.

A staff member drove around with the gun while attempting to locate and return the firearm to its owner, who was allowed to leave without an escort, according to at least two people with knowledge of the situation.

The owner of the diaper bag was identified, told to leave, and left the campus with family, Wedel wrote to parents.

The school did not say who was called to assist but at least two participants told KXAN that neither security nor police were called. Austin police confirm school officials “took care of the situation” internally.

“School officials did not file a report with APD,” said Austin Police Dept. spokesperson Brandon Jones. “As stated in the letter sent to parents, school officials took care of the situation.”

It is unclear why the presence of a gun did not warrant a lockdown or why it was brought to the campus in the first place. KXAN requested a copy of the TSD lockdown policy to see if the discovery of a gun should have prompted a lockdown. The school says that information is confidential and is challenging the release of records with the Texas Attorney General’s office.

https://www.kxan.com/investigations/gun-found-in-diaper-bag-near-toddlers-texas-school-for-the-deaf-says/

There may be more details, kind of the rest of the story about this incident...or not...hard to tell.  On the other hand I guess there's discretion allowed to some degree in any case.

I'm not condemning or defending.  Not everyone has to go to jail in every instance, but in light of current events, an act like this would get everyone's attention.  It definitely indicates some pretty heavy duty irresponsibility with a firearm.

I'm glad the state legislation inserted the defense for an LTC accidentally entering a "no firearms" location as long as they leave when contacted/notified.  Anyone can screw up, but it's a bit different leaving an unattended pistol in a bag around kids versus an oversight of carrying your concealed pistol into a no firearm environment.

I'm trying to imagine how a gun in a diaper bag could have put every single family, all their children and the entire staff "at risk".

Was it just about to climb out of the bag and go on a mass shooting spree, all by itself?

Early learning center sounds a lot like it possibly being a daycare which means possibly no crime was committed.

Oh you know, they are sentient.  And if you touch one they'll possess your soul and you'll go crazy and start mowing down children like you were a demon in some violent video game...

Libtards.  Incredibly stupid people.  No concept of reality.

No one hurt.  No one alarmed.  Owner found, asked to leave.



If anything, another reason why off body carry may not be the best choice.

All of this.

That defense is only for the secured areas of airports.

Yeah, upon review it's not as clear as I thought.  However, here's an excerpt from Giffords:

"Texas law generally states that it is a defense to prosecution under these location restriction laws that a person carried a handgun on a restricted premises or property, but promptly departed from the premises or property after personally receiving notice that carrying a firearm was prohibited. This defense is not available if the property posted prominent signs carrying specified notices regarding the firearm prohibition."

That's not a direct quote from the penal code perhaps, but that sounds a bit confusing.

I don't know who Gifford's is, but he is generally wrong.  Secured areas of airports are the only proscribed location that offers a defense if you agree to and do leave immediately.  

Agreed.

As long as there aren't different sets of rules for the "elite" and the common man, I'm fine with this.

I've been thinking about the defenses that affect LTC's in certain scenarios and went back and looked at TX Penal Code reference to 30.06.  The last entry in this section is as follows:

(g) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the license holder was personally given notice by oral communication described by Subsection (b) and promptly departed from the property.

I saw the airport reference you mention, but this is apart from that.  Not trying to be argumentative...just trying to wade through the clear-as-mud sections that pertain to lawful and unlawful carry.

Am I looking at this correctly or taking it out of context.  Poring over the main section about weapons and carrying under 42 and looking at 30.06's section, it looks like there is a defense in some other cases when the LTC person is notified after the fact...but maybe not.

I also found this under the site "Concealed Carry-ED:

Penal Code §30.06 and §30.07: Criminal Trespass
Texas Penal Code §30.06 and §30.07 cover trespassing by an LTC holder with a concealed or openly carried handgun.

According to these sections, it is an offense if you carry a concealed or open-carry handgun under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code (have a valid LTC), on another person’s property if:
You do not have that person’s consent and/or…
You have received oral or written notice from the property owner or someone acting on behalf of the property owner that entering the property with a concealed or open-carry handgun is forbidden for a person who has an LTC.
A written notice must be cards, signs, or other documents that include the exact language shown on the examples below.
If signs are posted, the property owner must have:
A §30.06 sign to prohibit an LTC holder with a concealed handgun from entering the property and…
A §30.07 sign to prohibit an LTC holder with an openly carried handgun from entering the property.
Any sign must be:
Written in both English and Spanish and…
Printed in BLOCK letters at least one-inch-high such that the color of the letters contrasts with the background and…
Displayed in a conspicuous manner clearly visible to the public.
Instead of meeting the above requirements exactly, a property may also be posted with a sign that is sufficiently compliant to be deemed to have given effective notice.

It is a defense to prosecution under Sections 30.06 and 30.07 if you have a valid LTC and:
You received oral notice and promptly departed from the property or...

You are the owner, the tenant, or a guest of an owner or tenant on rental property and you carry, store, or possess a handgun on the property.
This includes the parking area provided for tenants and their guests.
Landlords are prohibited from restricting tenants and their guests from possessing firearms and ammunition unless possession on a landlord’s property is prohibited by state or federal law.
Sections 30.06 and 30.07 do not apply to property owned or leased by a governmental entity that is not a premises or other place where the LTC holder is prohibited from carrying a handgun under Penal Code §46.03 or §46.035.

Again, just trying to wade through this stuff.

You are correct.  If the owner or person responsible tells you to leave and you do, it is not even a class C. However, if they notice you are carrying, call the police, and they find you carried past proper signage then you can be cited.  

It's my understanding, that the "asked to leave" aspect is just for airport secure areas, and private property covered by 06/07 signs.

The places that are prohibited from carry by statue such as schools, courts, racetracks (? - always get a hoot out of that one, as if when "Lucky" doesn't come in first some LTC'er is going to shoot the place up in a fit of pique), hospitals - don't have this aspect, is that correct?

One of the goals for the 23 Legislative session should be to whittle down the number of places where carry is prohibited.  I'd like to see it down to actual secure areas, such as airports, courthouses, etc.  If the government is actively screening for weapons then they have a case to say "no guns" to citizens, but otherwise, that no guns signs isn't a magic talisman to ward off evil.  

One thing. The School for the Deaf is a state facility.    The campus is not an actual school like your local ISD is. Lot's of various state programs exist there, like the state employee's day care.

They have their own LE and would not call APD in any case.