Straw and Spitball constitute weapons under Georgia law

by Kim T. Stephens on May. 23, 2017

Criminal Criminal  Felony Other  Education 

Summary: Even a straw and spitball constitute violations of Georgia's weapons on campus laws.

On April 12 two University of Georgia football players were arrested for alleged on-campus possession of BB guns, after which attorney Kim Stephens stressed that even a “straw and spitball” violates the school’s weapons policy.

The two players–Julian Rochester and Chad Clay–were both “charged with having a weapon in a school zone and criminal damage in the second degree.” Both players are alleged to have been “shooting solo cups in their dorm room with a Daisy BB gun, which left marks on the door and in other areas of the room.”Clay was booked at 12:13 a.m. and Rochester at 12:29 a.m. They remained in jail as of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

According to Dawg Nation, Athens defense attorney Kim Stephens said the school’s weapons policy is written in a way that “anything that shoots a projectile — ‘including a straw and spitball’ — fits the definition of a weapon on campus.” He suggested “a steak knife in the campus dining hall” can be construed as “a felony under the statute” as can be seen by the University of Georgia Police Department's definition of a weapon as any knife having a blade of two or more inches.

The University of Georgia Police Department website says, “Weapons come in many forms, and simply possessing one of these objects can be considered a violation of the law.” The weapons policy on the site goes on to say, “Unless an exception is expressly granted…the following items are prohibited on campus:

  • Pistol, revolver, or any weapon designed or intended to propel a missile of any kind (this includes air soft, paintball, BB or pellet guns, potato guns and other such homemade devices)
  • Knife having a blade of two or more inches 
  • Straight-edge razor or razor blade
  • Spring stick
  • Bat, club, or other bludgeon-type weapon
  • Nun chahka, nun chuck, nunchaku, shuriken
  • Throwing star or oriental dart
  • Stun gun or taser

Legal Articles Additional Disclaimer

Lawyer.com is not a law firm and does not offer legal advice. Content posted on Lawyer.com is the sole responsibility of the person from whom such content originated and is not reviewed or commented on by Lawyer.com. The application of law to any set of facts is a highly specialized skill, practiced by lawyers and often dependent on jurisdiction. Content on the site of a legal nature may or may not be accurate for a particular state or jurisdiction and may largely depend on specific circumstances surrounding individual cases, which may or may not be consistent with your circumstances or may no longer be up-to-date to the extent that laws have changed since posting. Legal articles therefore are for review as general research and for use in helping to gauge a lawyer's expertise on a matter. If you are seeking specific legal advice, Lawyer.com recommends that you contact a lawyer to review your specific issues. See Lawyer.com's full Terms of Use for more information.