17. Sword
Confiscated from a dorm room in March 2007.
“That’s a Conan-the-Barbarian sword,” Rossie said. “It’s actually got a bit of a sharp edge to it.”
OK, so campus cops have Tasers. But have you ever stopped to think about the arsenals of students and visitors?
Investigators Matt Rossie and Dennis P. Bush of Binghamton’s New York State University Police opened up their confiscated weapons cabinet so Pipe Dream could take a look. The majority of these weapons were collected over the past year. Others have already been removed or destroyed.
Take a look below for a glimpse of what was inside.
IT’S THE LAW
When it comes to confiscating weapons, University police enforce state laws as well as policies outlined in the student handbook.
For example, New York State law 265.06 explicitly forbids possession of certain gun-type weapons on school grounds without written authorization of the educational institution. The University prohibits weapons such as “firearms (such as handguns and rifles), BB guns, pellet guns, air guns, spring guns, blade-based weapons or other instrument or weapons in which the propelling force is a spring, air, piston or CO2 cartridge or other similar devices, antique and ornamental weaponry, and bow and arrows.” Stage-prop replica firearms and some martial arts weapons are permissible with official approval, Bush said.
Campus cops carry batons and pepper spray. In 1999 they were armed with guns and in 2007 officers were armed with Tasers. This action has been disputed by some members of the student body.
“If you know this stuff is running around and you’re worrying about a Taser,” Rossie said, “you’re not thinking right.”
Officers usually spot weapons through routine contact like traffic stops, during investigative interviews in dorm rooms and when given consent or warrants to search rooms. Residential Life also comes across weapons when they enter rooms during breaks. Local people, such as hunters, sometimes bring weapons on campus without permission.
The most common confiscated weapons are knives, Bush said.
“You get a lot of BB guns,” he added.
TUCKED AWAY
Once a a weapon is confiscated or seized, a few things can happen.
Confiscated weapons that are lawful off campus can be picked up from the police station.
The district attorney’s office notifies campus police on how to handle weapons seized as evidence. Some weapons are returned to defendants, others become University property.
Police seized a 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun with a pistol grip about a decade ago after a student used it to commit suicide at a nearby water tower. Some seized weapons, like the shotgun, get destroyed at a metal shredder.
SIDEBAR:
CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?
Above, the investigator holds up a real Glock 9 mm pistol and a replica pellet gun — both were confiscated on campus. Can you tell which one is which?
The top one is the replica. The bottom gun, the real one, was confiscated over winter break when a visitor taking the written state trooper exam brought it on campus without permission.
“You really can’t tell the difference,” Rossie said. “You see a kid with that [the replica] in his waistband, it’s not good.”
Rossie pointed to the mess of knives and clubs on the table. “These don’t bother me as much as imitation guns,” Rossie said.
According to Bush, “You see that [replica] come up and pointed at you, that’s enough right there to draw your weapon and use deadly force.”
And for Bush, that almost happened.
Bush remembers busting an underage drinking party in a suite in College-in-the-Woods. The other officers were talking to suspects in the bedroom while he was trying to control the crowd of about 10 people in the common room. But Bush spotted a male across the room who “kept moving around,” Bush said.
“I said ‘put your hands where I can see them,’” Bush said. “And he said, ‘Oh well, I have this gun.’”
The male pulled out what appeared to be a gun. Bush told him not to move before taking the weapon from him.
It turned out to be a pellet gun.
“If he were closer and nobody was around us, I would’ve drawn on him,” Bush said. “I would’ve been in fear of my life.”
Bush said he’s had other incidents where “these things pop up,” he said. “And it’s not fun.”
THE WEAPONS
10. Battle-ax
The investigators couldn’t remember how this was confiscated and if it was a decoration or weapon of violence.
“I wish I knew where this came from,” Rossie said. “That’s a pretty nasty weapon.”
18. Kitchen knife
Rossie: “Remember when they murdered the sofa?”
Bush: “Yeah.”
Rossie: “This is the one … this was the knife they killed the couch with. They really killed that couch.”
Confiscated November 2007
15. Knife
Seized in November 2007 in a drug case. The blade is 8 inches long.
16. Ruger .22 rifle
Cops seized this when they caught non-students, with local addresses, dumpster-diving on campus. The visitors had been driving a pick-up truck.
13. Dragon dagger
Residential Life staff reported on Jan. 24, 2007 a problem in a dorm room. Officers responded and found this dagger. The female owner is allowed to take it from police to remove it from campus, but has yet to do so.
“It’s really probably a decorative piece,” Rossie said. “It doesn’t have an edge on it.”
A piece of paper, which appears to be from a fortune cookie, is tucked between the blade and the handle. “That’s kinda creepy,” Rossie said.
1. Hand weapon
To use this weapon, a person slips his middle finger through the hole and wraps his hand around the shaft.
Rossie: “I don’t know what it’d be called.”
Bush: “You jab somebody in the chest with that, it’s gonna hurt like hell.”
5. Nunchaku
6. Pair of Sai daggers
12. Machete
“You can use this for gardening,” Bush said.
3. Throwing stars
9. Switchblade
Police found it in the grass near the metal detectors at this year’s Caribbean Carnival.
2. Brass knuckles
8. Bayonet
21. Airsoft gun
4. Collapsible baton
NOT SHOWN:
Three airsoft guns, a pellet gun, three pocket knives, two expandable batons, a billy club, a hickory stick and a bamboo stick.