NIU student charges with UUW for firearms in his dorm room

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Patriot86

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...r-guns-found-in-dorm-20131113,0,5626545.story


A Northern Illinois University student and Army veteran was arrested after police discovered two guns in his dorm room in DeKalb this week, campus officials said today.

Kevin Ouwenga, 29, of Tinley Park, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon after NIU police searched his room at the New Hall West dorm and found a disassembled AR-15 rifle and a semi-automatic handgun, along with some ammunition, NIU Police Chief Thomas Phillips said.
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Although Ouwenga has a valid firearm owner’s identification card, NIU bans guns on all school grounds, said Phillips. Ouwenga is a combat veteran of the Iraq war and is a first-semester student at NIU, the chief said.
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UUW/Unlawful Use of a Weapon is defined as

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K24-1

Definition is wayyy to long to post here.

AR-15 was broken down, not sure of the handgun, the owner had a FOID card.
 
It took me a while to see what crime had been committed, but I have to admit, it doesn't look good.

AFAIK, a dorm room is not typically considered a "residence." I could not find a legal definition for "abode" as cited in the statutes provided by the OP. That said, if the university is the property owner, and they have a policy against owning weapons, then it looks like the charge will stand.

Illinois General Assembly 720 ILCS 5/24-1 (a) said:
(4)Carries or possesses in any vehicle or concealed on or about his person except when on his land or in his own abode, legal dwelling, or fixed place of business, or on the land or in the legal dwelling of another person as an invitee with that person's permission, any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm, except that this subsection (a) (4) does not apply to or affect transportation of weapons that meet one of the following conditions:

(i) are broken down in a non-functioning state; or
(ii) are not immediately accessible; or
(iii) are unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card; or
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The gentleman obviously had the guns "on or about his person." As a student in a dorm room, he is not considered a tennant, and so I don't think the argument could be made that the dorm room was his abode, but most probaly was not his legal residence. With that out the window, he muct have the permission of the property owner to possess the weapons, which he did not. Finally, the state of the weapon is irrelevant to my reading of the statute, since the latter part of the quoted statute only deals with the transportation of a firearm.

Long story short, I think he's in for a rough time. Luckily it seems this will only be a misdemeanor.

Illinois General Assembly 720 ILCS 5/24-1 (b) said:
Sentence. A person convicted of a violation of subsection 24-1(a)(1) through (5), subsection 24-1(a)(10), subsection 24-1(a)(11), or subsection 24-1(a)(13) commits a Class A misdemeanor.
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I'm kind of the opinion that if the guy didn't want to follow the rules he should have sought other housing. If he didn't know the rules, he should have paid more attention.

Dorm's are private property of the school and he had to sign an agreement to follow the rules. As the old saying goes "ignorance of the law is not protection from the law".
 
Ok I may be mistaken here, but I thought that now there is a CCW law in place Illinois UUW law was no longer valid...


Any Illinois legal experts willing to chime in?
 
Not to put a fine legal point on it, NIU had a famous mass shooting a few years ago. I would not expect leniency if I was him.
 
ThesNazud said:
Ok I may be mistaken here, but I thought that now there is a CCW law in place Illinois UUW law was no longer valid...


Any Illinois legal experts willing to chime in?
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I'm not a legal expert by any means, but IIRC the only part of the UUW law that was affected was carrying a weapon in public, since there was no legal way to do so under Illinois law and it was ruled there is a Constitutional right to do so.

I went to NIU (class of 1990) way before the Cole Hall shooting and even back then a firearm in the dorms was a big no-no, it's very unlikely he was unaware of the rule. He really should have rented an off-campus apartment if he wanted to have firearms.
 
First, without researching Illinois law, it's unclear that storing in the dorm room constitutes "carrying on or about his person." He doesn't seem to be carrying at all. He had the guns stored.

Second, again without researching Illinois law on the definition of "abode" or "legal dwelling," it seems that his dorm room would at least be an "abode" as we commonly understand the term. Merriam-Webster defines the verb as "a temporary stay" and the noun as "the place where one abides." In turn, the most applicable definition of "abide" is "to stay or live somewhere." The term "legal dwelling" may indicate something less transitory.

The statute to which Patriot86 links doesn't say anything about universities. There is mention of "schools" but that most likely refers to schools up through high school. I bet there is a statute that allows universities to set their own policy. That statute might define violation as unlawful use. Otherwise, the correct charge would appear to be trespassing.
 
Even if a student were to seek a residence outside the dorm, he/she should be careful that it is not also school property where the same rule would apply. It would not apply to a privately owned apartment or home in which the student would have a room or an apartment. But many schools require that students live in a dorm or in a school-approved residence for at least the first year, and some require an approved residence for the entire period of attendance; the approved residence, to gain approval, might have to follow the same rules as the dorm.

Jim
 
It's Chicago, folks, stop trying to make sense of it. We have 'assault ammunition' laws....<facepalm>


I agree, though-don't like the rules, don't play their game.


Larry
 
No, it's not Chicago. NIU is in DeKalb, in DeKalb County, not Cook County. But it is Illinois. and he is facing a lifetime weapons ban, separate and apart from being expelled and imprisoned.
I wonder though, how does one "unlawfully use" a stored weapon?
 
I wonder though, how does one "unlawfully use" a stored weapon?
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I too was wondering that. "To use" and "to store" would seem to be mutually exlcusive from my limited grasp on the English language.
 
I have never heard of a crime such as unlawful use of a stored weapon, I often find though that the charges sited in the press/at LEO press conferences are improperly states/inaccurate vs the court documents.

They can either charge him with UUW or AUUW; though I believe AUUW was thrown out earlier this year because the circumstances for the aggravating factor.

Hopefully this guy gets a good lawyer and shuts up.
 
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