Posted on 12/04/2012 9:21:07 AM PST by marktwain
This fall marked the first semester students have been allowed to have guns and other weapons in their vehicles on campus. After the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that public universities couldn’t ban guns from cars on campus, WKU had to change its policy.
Prior to July 27, students were not allowed to have guns on campus in any capacity. The new policy allows students with valid concealed carry licenses to keep weapons in their cars, in plain sight.
Students who don’t have licenses may still have the weapons in their cars and campus lots but must keep them in a concealed vehicle-manufactured location such as a glove compartment, center console or seat pocket, according to the policy.
This is where Georgetown junior JD Biddle keeps his handgun.
Biddle said while he waits for his concealed carry license to arrive he keeps his guns out of sight. He said he keeps the handgun in his car for self-defense.
“I’ve been in some real situations,” he said. “I feel like it’s better to have it and not need it.”
He said although these situations have not turned violent, he was glad he was prepared. Biddle said he has completed concealed carry and National Rifle Association classes that make him feel well-equipped to handle a gun.
“You want to de-escalate the situation,” he said. “You don’t just pull guns on people. They taught me what’s acceptable and what’s not and how to stay within the law.”
Biddle said although he wants to follow the law, he kept his gun in his car before the policy changed and felt that he had a right to.
“I really believe in the right to bear arms,” he said. “I wasn’t showing it off. A firearm is just a tool. Educate yourself and handle them safely.”
Biddle doubts the policy changed student behavior much. Students who want to keep a gun in their car probably already did, he said.
Bowling Green sophomore Gabe Baker said he also kept his gun in his truck before the policy changed.
“I’m not going to shoot anybody with it,” he said of the hunting rifle he’s kept in his backseat since high school.
Baker has never felt the need to defend himself with a gun on campus. He said his gun is strictly for sport.
“You never know when someone will invite you to go hunting after class,” he said.
Starting with his first .22 rifle called a “chipmunk,” hunting and gun education became a tradition in Baker’s family.
“It can teach you how to be quiet and listen,” he said. “It instills the past in the future. And it teaches you responsibility.”
Los Angeles junior Krystin Avakian said although she’s not against owning a gun, she believes the presence of guns on campus will lead to more violence.
Avakian said she doesn’t feel the need to have a gun on campus. Her pepper spray is enough.
“I don’t think I would be able to shoot anyone anyway,” she said.
Because she does not own a car, Avakian is not allowed to have a gun on campus. Although this doesn’t bother her, she doesn’t think it’s fair.
As a transfer student from Glendale Community College in Glendale, Calif., she said she feels safer in Bowling Green in some ways.
“You need to be careful wherever you are,” she said.
The new policy allows students with valid concealed carry licenses to keep weapons in their cars, in plain sight.
So if you have a concealed carry license, you have to keep your weapon in plain view, yet if you do NOT have a concealed carry license, you can have the gun in your car but it has to be in a glove compartment or otherwise concealed? WTF?!
Either the author of this article is a complete moron or the law is idiotic. I'm leaning toward the former.
Plus the Hilltoppers get a bowl bid in only their 2nd. or 3rd. year of D-I ball.
Excellent interpretation, thank you Dr. Z. That makes more sense to me now.
I would not, however, advise anyone to keep a weapon in plain sight. Just asking for a break in.
Thank you, and I agree, one should never leave anything of value where it could possibly be seen.
The regular news reports around the holidays of smash and grab parking lot “shoppers” should teach that if nothing else.
Bring back gun racks.
” The new policy allows students with valid concealed carry licenses to keep weapons in their cars, in plain sight. “
In a number of states this might be considered “brandishing”, which is a crime and certainly reason to attract undue attention to the firearm. It invites theft or assault by a person intent on acquiring a firearm and it invites unnecessary diversion of law enforcement by triggering “man with a gun” calls to 911.
Okay, good, I’m not the only one who read this sentence outside of its intended meaning. I agree that this sentence is poorly written, but I believe the author of the article meant to say that anyone who leaves a weapon in open view is innocent of any wrongdoing provided they have a carry license.
Otherwise, non-licensees must keep the weapon in a closed container, which is the preferred storage message anyway.
This is just bad journalism.
Or bad communications by someone who paid big bucks for a degree in communications.
We carry so you don't have to.
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