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 ...
How does that preclude good judgment in carrying a weapon?
Oh, VT allowed a response to the killer alright. Whoever the maniac wanted to kill was allowed to die.
see post #45.
But “mindless bureaucrats” reject you...So what do we do about it Bob?
(I ask the obvious question, because I know the obvious answer...I only ask because I’m illustrating the absurd, but being absurd...)
Not that I am implying at all that you are absurd, far from it...
One interesting bit of logic here...
If you are to be civilly (sp?) disobedient wouldn’t it be wise to still have the means to back it up???
(Ohhh, this one’s really good...I need to write this one down...;-) )
An emotionally charged atmosphere filled with young folks of folks with questionable maturity levels under stress?
Putting forth fringe area suggestions doesn’t do gun owners any good. Can you imagine the reaction of some anti-gun person getting up and saying, “I was reading on the conservative site, Free Republic, a call to arm all students...”
Just the publicity of the shooting squad, and free/low cost NRA gun safety courses being available on campus to the entire student body would go a lot further as the publicity multplies the deterrence effect...
...an excellent point...I agree with your premise that every young male on campus being armed is an untenable nightmare waiting to happen...most sizeable universities have law enforcement programs, how about having some of those majoring in the program patrolling hallways with visible handguns, exactly as police do in any town...I don’t know, it’s worth thinking about anyhow...
Oh boy. I’ve already been thru this with the original breaking-news thread, and elsewhere, but here we go again.
Seems like it’s either all or nothing. I myself advocate a middle ground. And caught hell for it - and ready to do it again!
I’ll probably be replying by referring to the posts I already made so I don’t have to type all over again.
What part of “21 year minimum age” don’t you understand?
Just an aside, I think it would be a good idea to commission teachers as reserve police officers, if they were willing to do so.
Send them to the academy, give them some tactical insurv sessions, and let them loose.
Kids who were brought up in a Liberal household where guns were evil and unacceptable, will continue to be the victims.
Fixed
The problem is in THIS SITUATION that leftist view of “guns kill people” actually DID cost people their lives in a tangible and very real way.
The PC bias of the police caused them to purse a boyfriend who was MERELY a gun owner. inside of two hours they had a search warent and had entered the appartment. Meanwhile the shooter was killing more people thanks to their prejudice against the black letter constitutional civil rights of citizens.
I myself don’t believe it’s wise at all to allow weapons to a high concentration of slightly overaged teenagers, who are far too much all about drunkenness and exhibit many of society’s increasing ills of selfishness and pettiness and general idiocy. It’s a critical mass that all too well may demonstrate higher annual death rate than even this 1-time (and rare) massacre.
I do think the adults working on campus should be allowed to carry.
However, if campi want to allow all to carry, fine. I have no big things against it. I just don’t think it’s wise and time would tell. If I’m wrong, so be it.
This group is NOT the one that will take the trouble to obtain a CCW license---they'll just buy guns and keep them anyway.
"Also, you have at almost every large university a self sustaining drug culture and drug trade, which would in some cases start a arms race between competing factions of dealers."
Already exists. Allowing CCW won't affect this at all.
Your arguments are all bogus.
Well, we just got a real object lesson in the wisdom of a campus not allowing weapons.
This is great support for having qualified, legal, stable citizens carrying on campuses and everywhere else.
Few states allow CCW for those under 21, so we are talking about professors, staff, and graduate students, not the average varsity roidhead, or beer-swilling frat boy.
as this event demonstrates.
The police ONLY CONTAIN they do NOT protect.
If you are therefore trapped in the containment zone, that is an acceptable situation to “protect the public”, the rest of the public. You are on your own until the police can get around to further containing the suspect. (assuming they have the right one. See this case, see the DC sniper)
Not like living in your own home where (outside of DC and NYC) you can legally possess a gun.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.