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A lockdown at a Virginia university has been lifted after state police determined a report of a gunman on campus to be a hoax. …

Knox report From the Firearms Coalition The Pen is Mightier...and More Dangerous by Jeff Knox (May 6, 2008) When Steven Barber turned in his midterm creative writing assignment at the University of Virginia's College at Wise (UVA-Wise), he was hoping for a good grade to complement his 3.9 grade point average. Instead, Barber was expelled from school, locked in a mental institution for three days, and had his concealed carry permit revoked. Barber's fictional story was a first person narrative of a troubled college student consumed by depression, paranoia, drug addiction, and alcoholism as he struggles with one of tragedy's...

Steven Daniel Barber, 23, says a culture of fear has displaced rational thought. The Iraq War veteran's comments came Tuesday, shortly after learning his expulsion from the University of Virginia at Wise had been upheld. He has been prohibited from attending classes since Feb. 29 -- the day after sharing a story in which a character contemplates murdering his professor, then turns to thoughts of suicide. Barber wrote the piece for his creative writing class. "It's the nanny state ran amock; political correctness to the extreme," said Barber in a phone interview with timesnews.net. "Nobody goes after Stephen King, nobody...