ARTICLE SNIPPET: “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.”
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OPINION: There should be no debate on this issue. There should be no emotions involved. Common sense should prevail.
The question that should be asked is this, “Should law-abiding, adult American citizens (who have no mental health restrictions) be allowed to legally carry concealed weapons?”
All those with common sense will answer, “Yes.”
All those who are stuck on stupid will answer, “No.”
Anyone who states that they are undecided (for whatever reason) needs to take a quick course in common sense 101.
OTOH, I myself had a CCW permit at U of Alabama in the 1970s. We weren't very serious either during those times, except when we contemplated our imminent military commissions and when we were armed. Then it was 100% business.
A nice compromise would be to allow returning combat veterans who are attending school to go armed, perhaps even offer tuition breaks for doing so.
Secondarily, I'd offer firearms classes as a semester or summer course to prep the rest of campus. Contract with local NRA Instructors (like me) to teach and find a local range/gunshop to work with for live fires and perhaps rentals of weapons. Good advertising and a huge potential source of eventual revenue. That should also go a long way to relieving concern of other students, faculty and administration. Of course it will only cause the media to really rip their hair out and drive the anti-groups nutz as well.
That pretty much sums it up for me.
All those with common sense will answer, “Yes.”
All those who are stuck on stupid will answer, “No.”
Your conclusion is correct, but your premise shows how far the brainwashing has reached. The framing of the question reveals that, as with many things today, the default assumption is the power resides in the State. The proper question is “Should the State be allowed to restrict law-abiding, adult American citizens (who have no mental health restrictions) from legally carrying concealed weapons?”
Had this country not devolved into an emotional driven mess with the rest of the world, devoid of analytical thought and linear thinking, there might be a chance. However I see no instance of this becoming true. We have only to look at the last few days and the coming onslaught attacking everything from the constitution to the facts of life.