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 ...
Discovered by whom? Do you mean by an LEO? At any rate, in Alaska you don’t need no stinkin’ permit to carry so it isn’t anyone’s business. Yes, I do carry, always and no one has ever known unless I’ve told them.
Attaining the age of majority, and with proper training under their belts, why not?
The same aged people are in Iraq, using military weaponry on our behalf.
No reason they can't use arms on their own behalf as guaranteed by the 2nd amendment.
Vermont.
If highly trained secret service officers accidentally shoot each other, a campus full of kids with guns would be ridiculous:
Secret service officer shoots two agents at White House
Two Secret Service officers were injured after a gun held by another Secret Service officer accidentally fired inside the White House gate, according to a spokesman, Darrin Blackford.
Their injuries are non-life threatening, the spokesman said.
One officer suffered a shrapnel wound to the face, and the other was wounded in the leg.
They were taken to George Washington Hospital.
At the time, President George W Bush was on a trip to Blacksburg, Virginia, to attend a ceremony at Virginia Tech university following yesterday’s shooting rampage.
“It appears that at approximately 2.10pm (0410 AEST) there was an accidental discharge of a service issued weapon, which occurred inside the Southwest Gate at a security post near the White House,” Blackford said.
Perhaps it’s time to train and arm teachers instead of kids
You and I attend VT and are in the same class in the science building this guy locked and started shooting in. The only thing you know about me is from another student who told you I must be a gun nut, I have a CCW permit. We're in the same class in the building when he locks the doors and down the hall he starts shooting. Screaming, people running down the halls and not able to get out of the building, running back down the hall and being shot. Shots are moving closer to our class room, they're just down the hall now. More screaming. Shots in the room next to ours and we're assuming we are next. After realizing you're trapped with no where to go, among many thoughts one pops into your head, hey that nut case guy with the permit is here, are you...
a) Hoping I'm carrying and having broke campus rules or...
b) Hoping I'm not because you don't want to see a "wild west" type shootout?
If students and faculty with concealed carry permits are competent to carry a weapon when off campus can you explain why they become incompetent to carry a weapon while on campus?
Then again, I think all able body men 18-45 should be armed. Then again, what do I know about Title 11 U.S.C.?
5.56mm
Higher population density, less ability to secure a weapon, a frequently emotionally charged atmosphere etc. etc. etc. Not that any of this over-rides the 2nd amend. but they should be taken into account.
IMO faculty members could be trained and allowed to carry. The thought of schools full of immature students with loaded guns is a little idiotic.
What about just the frat boys?
LOL. My memories of frat boys are of drunken parties.
And a Dad here. Along with dorm items, car safety items and personal gear there is a necessity, esp for girls, to be prepared to defend. Mine is getting training this summer.
Do you have some statistics about the occurrence of violence during academic discussion or do you just “feel” that the “emotionally charged” halls of academia are fertile ground for violent eruptions?
When I took my son to his first year of college in Sioux Falls, SD he wanted to hunt pheasants and brought his shotgun along. When I asked the RA in the dorm where he should check in his shotgun he said, “just keep it in his room”. That was 11 years ago, those were the days.
If these people can legally carry while off campus, what magically changes when they walk onto campus? In case you've forgotten "kids" that age are fighting in our military, and from the looks of it doing a pretty damn good job.
The minimum age for a CCW is 21 years old so you aren’t going to have a school full of teenagers packing guns. Again, what is it about a college campus that renders otherwise competent people incapable of exercising reasonable judgement when they are on campus? Is it something in the water?
I said “emotionally charged” not “violent.”
That is if the official goal is to save innocent lives. If not, just lie down and die like a dog and thank a liberal politician for the privilege.
True.
And that is exactly how things will be if liberals have their way and all guns are outlawed. Law abiding citizens will be easy targets. Just because something is forbidden doesn’t make it just disappear.
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