Right To Bear Arms On Campus?
College Students In Utah Can Carry Guns, And Lawmakers In Nine Other States Are Considering Issue
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Do Guns Belong On Campus?
Massacres at universities have a growing number of students up in arms?literally. Lawmakers in 15 states are debating whether guns belong on college campuses. Mark Strassmann reports.
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University of Utah junior Thomas McCrory carries a gun to class - and it's perfectly legal in Utah. (CBS)
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McCrory's a junior at the University of Utah.
In 2006, Utah's Supreme Court explicitly allowed guns on college campuses for anyone with a concealed weapons permit, CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports.
It's the only state where that's allowed.
You carry it on your hip?
"Yeah, I carry it on my side, underneath the jacket," McCrory said.
McCrory, a ski-patroler, was paralyzed in a 60-foot fall. He felt vulnerable.
Then came the massacres at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University.
He started carrying a gun.
"It's a comfort to me knowing that I would have a fighting chance if something like that would happen," he said.
Now lawmakers in nine other states are debating whether guns belong on college campuses.
Georgia's one of them.
"How many kids must die before we realize that firearms in law-abiding hands actually save lives?" asked Georgia state Rep. Tim Bearden, a gun-rights advocate.
But the University of Georgia's police chief says more guns would make it harder to spot the real threat.
"There's only going to be a split-second there," said University of Georgia police chief Jimmy Williamson. "And I could see innocent people being shot by police."
A lot about this scares critics - starting with the image of armed college kids at a Saturday night keg party. And Utah's law says nothing about marksmanship. Students carrying a gun may have no idea how to use it.
But many in Utah are eager to learn.
"There are evil people out there," said Utah senior Molly Metcalf. "I don't know, I just want to feel safe."
McCrory practices every week - a growing trend in his undergraduate business school.
"At any given day, there's at least a dozen people within a hundred yards of me that are armed," he said.
Now students in other states want to arm themselves ... with the right to return fire.
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It''s a shame the lack of actual research news services with a political agenda do when they want to push that agenda on their audience.
Colorado State University and Blue Ridge Community College, in Virginia, also explicitly permit CCW holders to carry even to class.
In most other states it is only campus policy and not law that forbids students from carrying.
Posted by dragonwagon5
Hey dragon - Just how do you slant stories about multiple murderers positively. "In another case of a perfectly good gun being used exactly what it was designed for, a (up till this point) law-abiding gun owner shot three people at a hospital."???
-- Thomas Jefferson, quoting Cesare Beccaria in "On Crimes and Punishment"(1764)
Self Defense
A-HUMAN-RIGHT.com
1. It would allow unarmed victims to change their status to armed defenders.
2. It would give those who come onto campus to kill something to think about.
Next we need to get rid of the unarmed victim zones at malls and shopping centers.
Posted by notblue
No it goes like this in the end: an armed gunman was shot and killed after opening fire on shoppers. Unfortunately several of the people present were armed and all immediately opened fire. 27 by-standers were killed in the cross-fire as were all the armed defenders when the police showed up with their fully automatic uzis and couldn''t figure out who the original shooter was and whether he was dead or alive thanks to the mayhem.
I guarantee you will find MANY more real examples of what notblue was talking about compared to what you are talking about.
Of course their fears never came true and now those states have seen a reduction in crimes because 5,000,000 good citizens have the ability and the means to protect themselves.
I guarantee you will find MANY more real examples of what notblue was talking about compared to what you are talking about.
Posted by gunownerdan
Thats only because not everyone has a concealed weapon thank God.
I don''t know what you''ve been told, but LSD is not good for the brain.
I don''''t know what you''''ve been told, but LSD is not good for the brain.
Posted by gunownerdan
I''ve been wondering what''s up with this guy for a while - I think you nailed it. (LOL)
-- Thomas Paine, The Writings of Thomas Paine, Vol. I (1774-1779) [1774]
A-HUMAN-RIGHT.com
Posted by USBrit
I am very glad you do not want a ccw, we are all better off that way. But do not try and tell me what is best for me.
Gus kill people like a spoon made rosie fat.
Posted by USBrit
Such and overactive and negative and fantasy imagination. Concealed carry has increased in the US over the last 20 years, yet in that same time crime has decreased. Quite the opposite is true of the UK.
Posted by snoopy28173
Snoops, it is proven that where there are more legal citizen''s carrying a concealed weapon, crime decreases.
To answer your questions about someone telling a lie or a gun falling into the wrong hands, think about it for a moment. If someone is to tell a lie in the first place they will not seek permission to carry a weapon and if someone with the "wrong hands" wants a weapon they will get one. So telling the non-criminal they cannot carry a weapon puts them at an automatic disadvantage to the criminal who will carry one and use it no matter what the law says.
The killer obviously couldn''t care less!
Sure, the signs made some students FEEL safer, but were they REALLY safer?
"Let me make a point here, in case this isn''t becoming extremely clear. My state has gun control laws. It did not keep Hennard from coming in and killing everybody! What it did do, was keep me from protecting my family! That''s the only thing that cotton pickin'' law did! OK! Understand that! That''s ...that''s so important!"
- Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, Killeen Texas Luby''s massacre survivor
A-HUMAN-RIGHT.com
Posted by dragonwagon5
Good news does not sell newspapers, magazines or get your tv news watched.
Posted by dragonwagon5
This is a very good question dragonwagon5.
Could be because many cases of armed self defense are not reported to police. Could also be because reporting on murders can sell more papers or attract more viewers than reporting on self defense.
With well over 200 cases of armed self defense every single day there would also not be much time to talk about anything else.
But there certainly seems to be an anti-gun and anti-self defense agenda in the mainstream media.
After all, how can everyone rely on the police and the government for protection when they learn that they can be more than capable of protecting themselves?
Unfortunately I know this first hand.
A few years ago my friend and I got attacked by two strangers in a shopping mall parking lot while we
were getting into my car to go home.
I don''t know if they wanted to rob us, carjack me, beat us up, or what but I decided I did not want to find out!
Luckily I always try to be aware of my surroundings and any strangers nearby when I go out in public.
I saw these two guys walking up to us so I prepared myself by getting into my car as quickly as I could
and locked my door. That''s when they began attacking my friend before he could get in the car. Without even thinking about it I immediately started the engine, threw the car into reverse, yelled at my friend to jump in while they were beating him, and then I floored it running over both of the attackers at the same time. In just a split second I ended the situation by having a cool head and knowing what I had to do to stop the attack.
If I did not react the way I did, we could have both been killed and the two thugs would have probably taken my car!
Since then I take my own personal defense very seriously and I advise everyone to do the same.
Criminals will always prefer easy victims!
He always wanted one and being a collector I was more than happy to help him get one!
Last time I saw him he told me about how he likes to carry it with him. One day he went to the grocery store with his friends and as they were leaving, two kids came up with a little knife and demanded money!
My uncle pulled out his switchblade and flicked out the blade, then he said "You will need to go through this first!".
He said the eyes on those two kids just about popped out of their heads and they ran away as fast as they could!
I hope they learned a lesson because my uncle sure did.
Self Defense: NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!
Ah well. Whatever thins the herd.
Posted by dragonwagon5
Today basically any common semi-automatic rifle or shotgun are called "assault rifles" including popular hunting shotguns and .22 plinking rifles.
But true assault rifles are fully automatic machine guns and they are already heavily restricted and not available to the average citizen without paying an expensive tax for a license and a complete background check that can take months.
Calling any semi-automatic firearm an "assault weapon" just makes it easier to demonize and ban all handguns and rifles that use a magazine.
These people are allowed to carry a concealed handgun anywhere they go in public EXCEPT most college campuses.
There are about 5,000,000 citizens in America that have a concealed carry permit and they have proven themselves to be more law-abiding than the average citizen.
Why should these responsible people not be allowed to protect themselves on campus when they can do it everywhere else they go???
Criminals prefer unarmed victims.
Posted by dragonwagon5 at 09:34 AM : Mar 30, 2008
+ report abuse
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better yet, why do you think i should not be allowed to own one??
Posted by Keithle1 at 05:15 PM : Mar 29, 2008
+ report abuse
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no but you are changing your position away from a victim
iphone, ipod..
I was thinking more along the lines of military issue weapons like AR15''''s, AK47''''s, Mini 14''''s, M16''''s and the german HK series, just to name a few examples. These particular weapons carry up to 30 small caliber high speed tumbling rounds that can kill without actually hitting a kill zone due to their migratory characteristics and extensive tissue damage once they enter the body. Close range or long range they are deadly. Why should they be allowed? - Posted by dragonwagon5
The AR15 is the civilian (not automatic) version of the M16. The Ruger Mini 14 is a civilian semiautomatic rifle similar to the M14. The AK47 is military issue, not available for civilian purchase in the USA. There are civilian semiautomatic versions similar in appearance.These rifles are capable of accepting a magazine capable of various volumes of ammunition. Regarding your reference to tumbling rounds, do not confuse the ammunition with the rifle used to fire it. The only one of the weapons that you have referenced above known to have a tumbling characteristic is the AR15/M16. These use a .223 cal (aka 5.56mm) bullet. The jacketed military version has been known to tumble internally upon contact with bone. The other weapons use a .308 cal (aka 7.62mm) bullet known the world over as a common hunting round. Why should any of these not be allowed? The weapons are all practical in given situations for self-defense. The right to keep and bear arms is not limited to sporting weapons.
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by billorights
March 30, 2008 11:58 PM PDT
- To dragonwagon5 -
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Reply to this comment
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See all 40 CommentsActually, I do not carry any weapon, 24/7 or otherwise. Here in the Republik of Southern Kalifornia, the average citizen cannot qualify for a Carry Concealed Weapon (CCW) permit, because as you know, here in a purely urban setting, self defense is not necessary because we have a police force capable of preventing any harm from coming to you.
Additionally, my comments were not related specifically to carrying a concealed weapon for defensive purposes. It is conceivable that an individual would have to defend themselves or their family from a threat outside the effective range of the average handgun. In such a situation, a handgun would be useless. Need an example? How about if your friendly neighborhood assailant is shooting at you with a rifle from beyond handgun range? True, it is not an everyday occurrence, but it is not inconceivable. Can you recall any riots happening in the last 100 years? Would you rather see your neighbor carrying a rifle, or a carload of armed thugs stopping to pay a visit at your house?