(National Sentinel) Privacy Violation: A Massachusetts landlord has asked a Harvard University graduate student to move out of her apartment after her roommates pilfered through her belongings and found her legally-owned handguns.
As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, the student, Leyla Pirnie, says that Dave Lewis, president of Avid Management, asked her to move because now her roomies feel “uncomfortable” knowing there are guns about.
“Since it’s clear that Leyla wants to keep her firearms, it would be best for all parties if she finds another place to live,” he told the website in an email.
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Mind you, the guns are legally owned. Oh, and there’s that part about how her roommates violated her privacy by searching through her belongings after reportedly finding a (gasp!) MAGA hat.
This girl's roommates searched through all her belongings just because they saw she owned a #MAGA hat, went to landlord with complaints after finding out she was a LEGAL gun owner. From @StephenGutowski https://t.co/CPL1oc5Vqy pic.twitter.com/d3tpICcIHq
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) November 30, 2018
After finding her firearms, one of the roommates emailed Lewis to request he ensure Pirnie was in compliance with gun laws.
“We discussed with Leyla that all of us are uncomfortable with having firearms in the house, and that their presence causes anxiety and deprives us of the quiet enjoyment of the premise to which we are entitled,” the email to Lewis stated.
Speaking of entitlement, isn’t Pirnie entitled to some basic privacy? And her Second Amendment right?
“A few weeks ago, I came back to my apartment from a weekend trip and was confronted by one of my roommates who asked if I had guns in the house,” she told the Free Beacon. “After being told far too many lies to count, my roommates finally admitted that they searched my closet, under my bed, and all of my drawers in pursuit of finding my guns.
“When I asked them why they were in my room to begin with, they each came up with completely contradicting stories (none of which made any sense), but one comment struck me in particular: ‘We saw that you had a MAGA hat and come on, you’re from Alabama… so we just kind of assumed that you had something,'” she continued.
“I asked why they didn’t just call me and ask me before intruding. One of the girls responded that fear took over her body and she felt compelled to search my room until she found proof… I cannot make this up.”
Pirnie eventually agreed to allow local cops to ‘inspect’ her guns to ensure she was in full legal compliance — and she was.
When asked about her guns by her roommates, Pirnie explained that she is trained in the handling and use of firearms. But that didn’t matter because the roomies were concerned someone might break in and use the guns on them or that they “might go off on their own.”
Wow.
“What I find uncomfortable is coming home to find out that six people I barely know went into my bedroom without permission and went through every single one of my drawers, without any regard to my privacy whatsoever,” Pirnie said (though she obviously knows them a lot better now). “My landlord’s e-mail, though carefully crafted, showed tremendous prejudice against my right to legally have firearms.”
Not that she even needs one, but Pirnie has a good reason for being armed. When she was an undergraduate student she was in a physically abusive relationship.
“Nobody has bothered to question, ‘Well, why do you want to have protection? Could it be because you’ve experienced something where you need to protect yourself as you see fit?'” she said. “I have a real and legitimate reason as to why I want to protect myself.”
After refusing to move out, Lewis told Pirnie that if her roommates moved she would be responsible for the full rent — $6,000 a month.
“I’m still very much so being threatened out of my apartment,” she said, the Free Beacon reported. “Either I leave and incur moving expenses or my roommates move and I incur their rent expenses… Doesn’t seem right.
“Not only is this a blatant violation of my privacy, but it’s also a violation of my rights.”
Without question.
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