Texas Law School Student Suspended Because He Has Guns?

[Gingersnap]

Texas Law School Student Suspended Because He Has Guns?
Posted at 4:00 pm on December 7, 2018 by Tom Knighton

American college campuses aren’t places that are friendly to anyone to the right of Stalin, politically. That makes four years of college, to say nothing of any graduate studies one undertakes, somewhat awkward for right-leaning students. While they can get by, there’s always the weird specter of your politics coming back to bite you in the rump.

Now, it seems like that’s happening to a law school student at the University of North Texas.

Brandon Masin is a 25-year-old student at the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law. He is the founder of the law school’s chapter of The Federalist Society, the only conservative student organization on campus.

On the evening of November 20th, 2018, while at an outing hosted by one of his professors for the holiday, Brandon received an email from the university stating that due to an alleged and unspecified threat he was immediately suspended and would have to meet with the school’s CARE team. He emailed several times asking procedural questions about the investigation as it was unfolding out of compliance with the university’s own policies and Due Process. He never received a response, only a date and time to meet with the team.

At the meeting the CARE team turned out to be the University’s Counselor and Chief of Police, he was vaguely questioned about the unspecified allegations, and after sticking by his denials, he was then questioned about his mental health. If he had any anger issues if he had a firearm, how many, why he felt the need to own firearms? If he was licensed to carry them, if he carried at the school, whether he felt unsafe at the school and if he ever open carried.

As the procedure rolled on, it turned out that Masin was accused of making a threat by a professor.

Despite ample evidence proving that he wasn’t even in the area at the time of the alleged threat, both by showing his phone and by having witnesses state he was with them at the time of the alleged incident, the school didn’t see fit to drop the allegations.

He denied making the threats and showed messages and GPS data showing he was elsewhere. Additionally, he had several students email the investigator validating not only his whereabouts but his character. When he asked the investigator about all of the procedural problems and the impossibility they presented him of raising a defense against an unspecified and anonymous allegation, the investigator informed him that she would investigate and follow up on everything.

He was the emailed later that day informing him that the CARE team considered him a threat while citing no actual reasons for this finding. The following day she issued her decision finding him responsible, citing no evidence for her decision other than not believing his denial and citing the fact that an anonymous accusation was made. She mentioned absolutely no other sources of information and did not mention the discrepancy in the time frame or the several witness accounts that were sent to her.

Masin has filed an appeal, but as the Ammoland story notes, that could hold off until after finals, which he could be dismissed due to the poor grade he received due to his suspension.

Yes, this is a pile of male bovine excrement, but this is life on college campuses. Couple this with other nonsense that takes place and is it any wonder that I’d rather my son not go to college?

But it certainly looks like he’s been suspended because he has guns. There’s no way this should stand, and Masin should be free to get back to work right away.

Unfortunately, I don’t get a say in the matter.

I want to make it clear that I personally own no guns of any kind due to a tragic boating accident some years ago.

Bearing Arms

[Novaheart]

BTW- He's Black. So I see a lawsuit in UT 's future.

[phillygirl]

I still don't understand how this is about guns.

[Norm dePlume]

The comments section here has some interesting bits from people who claim to be this guy's classmates.

I am student at UNT Dallas and when I read this I was ticked and worried. I have my concealed weapons permit and carry on campus so what if this happens to me? I began asking around from some of Mr. Masin’s classmates and it turns out the story is not what was written above. Apparently he said on several occasions that if he didn’t pass this or that he would hold people hostage and while he had a concealed permit he often took the gun out and laid it on the table during study groups in the library.
As all of us who conceal carry know this is not the way he should have acted. I have been carrying on campus for more then 2 years now without issue.
However, that isn’t to say the school isn’t liberal. It is a very left leaning school. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least that most of the students and staff believe guns are the problem and would love to have the government take them away from us.

Ok, first off, I’m both a student at this law school and in this particular student’s class (all 1L’s have all their classes together in the first year with the exception of legal writing groups and mentor ship groups). Second, I’m very conservative and pro-second amendment.
That said, this article leaves out critical information. No. Brandon was not suspended for being a conservative or gun owner. There are several students in our class that fit that description who have had no such experience at UNT college of law. Brandon was suspended because a student claimed they overheard Brandon make an off the cuff comment about how he was going to “hold up the school” with a firearm if he received poor grades on finals. The students in our class are well aware that Brandon carries, especially given that he was unnecessarily displayed his firearm numerous times (at least once in a study group, and allegedly once at a federalist society meeting while discussing the second amendment) on campus which violates the provisions of his CHL license.

There are certainly misgivings about the way the university conducted their investigation, or possibly the lack thereof, but the notion that this was purely a ploy to get rid of a conservative gun owner by sheer virtue of their politics or status as a gun owner is a complete lie. Again, I say this as both a conservative, a gun owner, and a student in this law student’s class who knows Brandon personally.

[Newman]

BTW- He's Black. So I see a lawsuit in UT 's future.

The perversion of due process is astounding. One would think that a law school, of all places, would be extremely sensitive about that.

But one would be wrong.

[Billy Jingo]

The comments section here has some interesting bits from people who claim to be this guy's classmates.

Killjoy.

[Tom Servo]

The comments section here has some interesting bits from people who claim to be this guy's classmates.

The conservative snowflake media was misleading*? Guess they're just following their leader.

* - or can I not use this, since Newman says it can mean anything?

[scott]

The comments section here has some interesting bits from people who claim to be this guy's classmates.

Useful information.

[Newman]

The conservative snowflake media was misleading*? Guess they're just following their leader.

Possibly. "Comments" are seldom a fount of reliable information. How do you know the writers are who they say they are? for example. So you weigh what you read as best you can.

And I assume the story always has more to it than you read, certainly than you read in a single report.

Not for nothing, however, my criticism was directed as the lack of "due process" rather to the question of what he did or didn't do.

* - or can I not use this, since Newman says it can mean anything?

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You can take it from there.

Useful information.

Maybe so.