Posted on 04/18/2007 2:02:53 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech on Monday has reignited an emotional debate about whether students should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus.
Virginia Tech, like most universities around the country, forbids students from having guns on campus. But as an increasing number of states have passed laws that allow people to carry concealed weapons, gun advocates from Virginia to Utah have also challenged the academic policies that prohibit weapons at colleges and universities.
[Big Snip]
"Almost every college that has looked at this issue feels they can do a better job of protecting their students by banning guns on campus and taking responsibility to provide good security," says Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington. "I'm not sure any campus would like to advertise, 'Come to our campus. We have more guns per capita than any other campus.' "
When the issue is debated again as expected this year in Virginia, gun-control advocates will be lining up with members of the academic community in opposing an expanded presence of guns on campus. They believe the problem is that the country already has too many guns.
"We have access to these weapons, and there are people who get angry, and with that access they will use them," says Jim Sollo, vice president of Virginians Against Handgun Violence, a group with 800 members that advocates gun-control measures. "I fear that we will continue to have mass shootings here in the United States."
But gun advocate Mr. Van Cleave contends that control is not the solution. "Gun control only works with the good guys," he says. "Good people obey the laws. The people you're worried about don't. I don't think [the campus shooting] is going to bode well for gun control."
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
If a college allowed people to carry a gun on campus, it wouldn't be a distraction, since everyone would already know that that sort of thing is allowed.
As to a theft risk, perhaps. But so what? It would be like saying that cars shouldn't be allowed on campus, since a thief could steal one and use it as a getaway car in a bank robbery.
Consider the state of Utah. It allows people with a CWP to carry a gun onto school grounds, including that of college campuses. They don't seem to have the problems you're concerned about.
Will you impose a "common sense" test? Should people with a CCW license be required to shoot at least a Master USPSA rating? How about an IQ test? Religious test to prevent "sudden jihad syndrome"? What other hurdles must a legal Adult have to jump through to pass your litmus test?
I just checked the 2nd Amendment and could not find any language that disqualifies college students.
If I remember correctly the only good to come from that was NY got the death penalty back. Too bad they couldn’t fry him.
As in every case of concealed carry, the hysterics come out, but then everyone seems to forget about it when the ‘wild west’ scenarios don’t happen.
The doomsayers always say, ‘don’t have more gun freedom!’ But it never seems to actually cause any real problems.
The only time you’d hear about it is when someone uses one to stop a crime. You hardly ever hear about serious crimes with legal gun carriers.
I'm not supporting or failing to support the policy. I'm discussing how to carry safely and legally in the current reality we live in, not in your potential dream world once you change a lot of longstanding laws and cultural norms. Discussing how to cope with the real situation we live in is the extent of my responsibility. Yours, if you choose to, can be to change the landscape.
If you really want instruction on how to safetely carry, I gave it to you above. So that’s a moot point now.
Preventing my gun from being stolen and making headlines because I negligently left it unsafe is one responsibility I take very seriously. We all should.
Can you just have a reasonable discussion?
Cool it with the commie crap (see my post regarding such name-calling). I AM NO COMMUNIST. That’s libel in my book, as you have nothing but a couple posts on 1 specific subject to go on and you’ll be sad to see how wrong you are.
You don’t know either of us so stop going immediately on the attack. Would you like to be immediately attacked in person for stating your opinions? It’s rude. It adds to the coarsening of society and does not help turn people to the right side.
Don’t try to equate policy-setting on an institution with making laws. IT AIN’T EQUIVALENT.
And it’s a simple opinion. As I said if they want to have guns for everyone, go for it. I’d send my kid there any way if he wanted to go. I’m just stating IMO the deaths from idiots on the grounds annually will go up. I could be wrong, but knowing something about college “kids”, I’d be surprised. And guess who will be sued? The college.
Not only yes, but HELL YES!
Get a safe at home and keep it carried close when out. No worries then.
I've done no such thing. Find it. All I did was bring up some issues they'll need to solve to do so safely and responsibly. Read every post of mine without the hysterics and you'll see that.
Okay then! See how easy that is? To acknowledge the responsibility and then how to handle it?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Could you find anything that says people/institutions may not say what’s allowed on their premises?
The 'safety' of the community will trump individual rights. Coming to a theater near you.
That's what they say endlessly about carry laws, the brady types. Yet it does not happen. Carry laws have been around for a long time now. Saying it's legal to carry on grounds should be legaslitated to not be a lawsuit issue, like the castle doctrine laws. However, banning self-defense should be heavy grounds for major, major lawsuits.
Sounds an aweful lot like the same thought preocesses that anti-gunners use to drum up hysteria over localities loosening their carry laws. "There will be blood in the streets!" "It'll be the Wild West with shootouts at high noon!"
Never happens. Just making the decision to carry legally shows a level of maturity that belies your supposition. More folks carrying legally lessens the Sheeples fear over armed law abiding citizens.
This is a good thing and one we should be advocating more of.
I agree. I'm just sorry you are too hysterical to realize that.
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