Student in hot water for mock rifles

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By Valerie Richardson

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.

Marie Morrow, an honors student and drill-team commander in the Young Marines, isn't the kind of student who normally gets expelled.

But she's now awaiting the results of Thursday's expulsion hearing after leaving three rifle-shaped props, used for drilling, in the back of her car at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora.

Colorado law mandates expulsion for any student found with a "dangerous weapon" on school grounds, which includes "a firearm facsimile that could reasonably be mistaken for an actual firearm."

The case has galvanized Coloradans as the details play out on talk radio, editorial pages and even the state legislature. State Sen. Kevin Lundberg, a Republican, said he plans to introduce legislation that would provide an exception to the law for prop weapons used by military-sponsored youth groups.

"There should be exemptions to this hard-and-fast rule so this type of thing doesn't happen again," Mr. Lundberg said in a statement. "I am outraged that a student faces expulsion for participating in a drill team."

Even a spokesman for one of the nation's leading gun-control advocacy groups agreed that the punishment didn't seem to fit the crime.

"We're not concerned about nonoperative rifles, and the facts in this case cry out for someone to exercise common sense," said Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "While officials seem to want to send an important message, which is fine, we don't want to see this young woman's life severely disrupted."

Miss Morrow's attorney, David Lane, acknowledged that the question isn't whether she'll be expelled, but for how long. Colorado law says the expulsion can range from one day to one year.

At the hearing Thursday morning at the Cherry Creek Schools district office, Mr. Lane asked an independent hearing officer to limit the expulsion to time served. Miss Morrow's expulsion began Feb. 6, the day after the prop rifles were found.