Posted on 04/03/2012 7:44:57 AM PDT by marktwain
Students who support carrying concealed weapons on campus are going to show it in a nationwide protest.
This week, members of Students for Concealed Carry will wear empty holsters to symbolize how defenseless students are against an attack on Oklahoma State University campus.
The protest was organized by the national organization of Students for Concealed Carry, a group advocating concealed weapons on college campuses with slogans like “Disarming good guys won’t stop bad guys” and “Self-defense is a human right.”
Joren Whitley, president of the OSU chapter of Students for Concealed Carry, said that the holster also signifies that the wearer supports concealed weapons on campus.
“We can’t carry on campus as of right now, but we can carry anywhere else,” he said. “I carry wherever I go. Anywhere I go, I am able to protect myself, but I can’t on campus.”
Safety measures such as the blue emergency boxes on campus, calling for help and running away are also options, but they are not as effective, Whitley said.
“If you can’t run (to the blue emergency boxes), you’re done,” he said. “They tell you that when you hit the button (on the emergency box), to keep running so they can find a trail of where you’ve been, but it’s kind of a follow-the-trail-to-your-body thing.”
Some students said they are uncomfortable with the idea of fellow classmates carrying weapons on campus.
Andy Cline, a junior studying architecture, expressed that it did not seem necessary.
“If I didn’t feel safe on campus, I would have a completely different take on this,” he said. “But I do feel safe on campus.”
Whitley said that on campus, OSU police are usually three minutes away in the event of an emergency.
“In three minutes, a lot can happen, especially in a classroom,” he said. “In a classroom, you’re stuck in the middle. You might not have a chance to run out the door or hide.”
The Students for Concealed Carry website cites the Virginia Tech shooting as a perfect example of police response time and how much damage can be done during that time.
A fear of many students is that if a concealed carry policy is passed, it would allow anyone access to firearms on campus, which could potentially increase the likelihood of a shooting incident.
Whitley said that to acquire a concealed carry license, the applicant has to go through several tests, attend a safety class and pass an extensive background check.
“They know that they are carrying something on them that could end someone’s life,” he said. “They are very, very responsible about it.”
If anything other than a parking or speeding ticket surfaces during a background check, the carrying license is denied, Whitley said.
The movement on the OSU campus is growing.
Whitley said that the group’s Facebook page has 178 members, and their email list has more than 200 addresses.
Their next meeting is on today at 7 p.m. in 125 Animal Sciences.
For more information about OSU’s movement, visit their Oklahoma Students for Concealed Carry on Camus page on Facebook.
To find out more about the national organization and the Empty Holster protest, visit www.concealedcampus.org.
On which campuses?
“On which campuses?”
Colorado is the latest win, before that, a Wisconsin win.
Here is a link to Students for Concealed Carry on Campus:
Go `pokes!
Anyhow, I had both a .22 rifle and a shotgun in my closet when I lived there, and tons of ammo. I never thought twice about it. I knew Americans had the right to keep and bear arms, and gun restrictions were in other places.
How little did I know. Even then, Oklahoma prohibited open carry.
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