When the National Rifle Association decided to help fight the expulsion of a Willows High student who left shotguns in his truck during school hours after a morning of duck hunting, the disciplinary measures levied against Gary Tudesko came under the full glare of the national spotlight.
"This issue has become much bigger than any of us around here," said Willows High principal Mort Geivett.
Chuck Michel, a civil rights lawyer from the Long Beach-based firm of Michel and Associates, became involved after Tudesko was expelled Nov. 19 and after the National Rifle Association and California Rifle and Pistol Association provided financial support, Tudesko's mother, Susan Parisio, said.
However, Parisio said when she initially contacted the firm right after her son was suspended, she was told there was nothing the group could do.
Explaining that Tudesko's grandmother, Sally Barron, had previously worked to defeat two state bills concerning property rights issues, Parisio said she contacted the law firm through her family's political connections and requested their help personally.
The firm's lawyers are being paid with money from the NRA/CRPA Legal Action Project, which is "a joint venture" between both groups to "advance the rights of firearms owners in California," according to information provided by Parisio.
Tudesko said he did not want to fight the expulsion, but his mother felt strongly about the issues.
In a telephone interview Thursday, Michel said gun groups are interested in Tudesko's case because zero-tolerance policies infringe on the rights of legal gun owners.
"You can't hide behind zero-tolerance policies and manufacture student safety issues at the expense of common sense," Michel said. "We need administrators that know the difference between a Gary Tudesko and a real threat."
The lenghthy brief fighting the expulsion also lists a number of other arguments for why the action was inappropriate, including Michel's contention that the search violated Tudesko's 4th Amendment rights.
Willows High administrators were adamant that the safety issue was not manufactured.
"We had every legal right to do exactly what we did," Geivett said.
Michel was careful not to call either the administrators or the school board "anti-gun."
"I don't know what their personal feelings are," Michel said. "I know it's a hunting community, but I do think they got caught up in a zero-tolerance mentality."
Michel said the Willows Unified School District board acted on bad information provided to them by Geivett, who reportedly told the board they had no choice but to expel Tudesko for possession of guns on campus.
"And the guns were never on campus; no one disputes those facts," Michel said.
Sniffer dogs hit on the truck, parked just off-campus, on Oct. 26. Tudesko admitted he had two shotguns and hunting ammunition in the truck.
WIllows High vice principal Jerry Smith, a self-described "NRA supporter and avid waterfowl hunter," said he is "baffled" by the whole situation.
"I have often gone waterfowl hunting before coming to school in the mornings and I always leave my guns at home," Smith said Thursday.
Smith said he does not believe school safety issues should create any conflict with gun rights.
"I want all my gun rights very much, but guns simply do not belong anywhere near a school," Smith said. "They just don't."
Superintendent Steve Olmos is also a self-labeled "proud hunter and gun owner," and said he has been an NRA member in the past.
Geivett, also an "outdoorsman," said, "I never thought I'd have to apologize for not being a hunter," saying though he has nothing against the sport, he has always been more interested in fishing.
Geivett said he's surprised that teacher and student groups have not gotten more involved in the issue.
"I hope they do," he added.
Parisio said if they lose their appeal to the Glenn County board of education of Tuesday, they will take their argument to the courts.
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Personally, I believe that the title of this piece says it all. The issue IS bigger than the incident. There's a big difference between having a gun in the truck to wipe out the student body and coming from the duck stand!
Was the student wrong? Yes he was and deserved to be punished. Was the school wrong to expel him? Yes it was!
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