“A man who openly carried a holstered gun at a high school soccer game Thursday led Muskegon Western Michigan Christian leaders to halt the contest against Hudsonville Freedom Christian with 30 minutes remaining,” highschoolsports.mlive.com reports. “The man, whose identity was not immediately available, was spotted with the weapon by a Warriors assistant coach, who alerted head coach David Hulings [above] and assistant athletics director Fred VandenBrand. VandenBrand asked the man to leave, but he refused. Instead, he apparently took the firearm to his car and left it there before returning to the stands. His presence, and the uncertainty if the gun was still being carried, resulted in the game being stopped with 15 minutes into the second half . . . ‘Although I personally have no objection to, and do support, his right to carry [Hulings said], the school also has a right under the law to ask him to leave.’ . . .
VandenBrand said an officer told him that the private school had a right to ask the man to leave, and that the scenario is unprecedented in his career.
“Talking to the officer…we had a right to ask him to leave, and if he returned without meeting our conditions, he could be charged with trespassing,” he said.
“I agree with our coach 100 percent. The safety of our players and students is our highest priority and our coach did the right thing in making sure our players and the fans were going to be safe before anything else.”
Note: as many of our commentators pointed out in this morning’s post about the fall and fall of Detroit, Wolverine State residents have the right to open carry. More details here as they come in.