Backpacking heat -- Concealed weapons on campus

[jpak]

http://boston.com/community/blogs/crime_punishment/2011/02/backpacking_heat.html

A number of questions remains unanswered stemming from the arrest earlier this month of a student at MassBay Community College in Wellesley for having a loaded semi-automatic weapon in his backpack. School authorities are assessing their security preparedness, while the court investigates possible explanations for 18-year-old Darryl Dookhran's alleged violation of weapons laws. Could Dookhran have acted out of fear for his personal safety, as his attorney has suggested? Or, might his design have been something sinister?

Whatever clarity emerges over the weeks and months ahead, the MassBay episode connects to a much larger debate over the appropriate role of firearms on campus, particularly those concealed and carried for the purpose of protection.

In a recent post, I challenged recurrent proposals that would arm teachers and administrators in grades K-12 with more than just chalk. Whereas duly-sworn School Resource Officers (SROs) can and should be equipped with adequate firepower to protect the school population, teachers -- even if licensed to carry concealed weapons -- should leave their guns outside of school. Licensing requirements for citizens hardly compare to training requirements for law enforcement. Faculty are trained to educate, not execute.

The same pro-gun arguments, only louder, have been heard in response to shootings on college campuses, where much of the student population (as well as the staff) may be accomplished shooters. Ironically—and unfortunately, at least in the minds of some observers—at the time of the tragic Virginia Tech massacre, a bill was stalled in the Virginia General Assembly that would have permitted licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons on the Blacksburg and other campuses in the state.

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[damntexdem]

1. Keep the guns off the campus.

At least arrest those who bring them on.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. I carry on campus and I do not need a permit

In fact there is an entire group of people who do and it is perfectly legal.

[oneshooter]

2. Fences with razor wire, metal detectors, spot searches,

Armed guards, everybody has issued ID, lighting along all perimeters, video surveillance of all dorms and rooms.Armed guards at all entrances and patrolling the campus.
And the college accepting total responsibility for any injury within the perimeter fencing. Lockers available at each entrance for students with CHL's to lock them up, using their own locks.

100% increase in the cost of a college education.

And still no guarantee of "total safety".

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[jpak]

3. Tax guns and ammo to pay for it

problem solved

yup

[oneshooter]

5. No, there would be no need to tax guns and ammo.

The school has a choice, secure the campus, or don't. The rest is up to the consumer to choose which school to go to.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[jpak]

6. Tax guns an ammo to pay for it - problem solved

Yeah - there should be choices - send your kid to a school where everyone - including kids - open carries.

:rofl:

[Zoeisright]

4. There WERE people with guns at Rep. Gifford's shooting.

But there were too many people running around to take a shot at the gunman.

That's just one of many points the gun porn crowd misses.

[X_Digger]

7. One person in a store nearby..

Unless you have more information?

[GreenStormCloud]

8. False. Only one armed citizen. He was inside the store.

He didn't get to the scene until it was over.

[TheWraith]

9. And even if it were the case...

...the idea of carrying a gun for self defense is SELF defense, not as an ad-hoc police force.

If what the people against concealed carry claimed was true, then half a dozen other people should have pulled out their guns and started randomly shooting people, not knowing who the attacker was. After all, that has been one of the bogeymen of concealed carry, right up there with "blood in the streets" over parking disagreements and spilt coffee.

[Atypical Liberal]

11. The same question that never gets answered.

If I am a law-abiding citizen who is 21 and has passed an extensive background check and so obtained a concealed carry permit, such that I can carry a firearm down main street surrounded by hundreds of my fellow citizens, why can't I do it on a college campus?

[Kolesar]

12. You should take a correspondence course if you are so afraid to go to campus...eom

[Atypical Liberal]

13. You mistake preparedness with fear. And you still didn't answer the question.

There is a difference in being irrationally afraid and taking easy, prudent precautions.

I have fire extinguishers in my home. Not because I have an irrational fear of fire, but simply because it is easy and prudent to be prepared for the rare occasion that I would need to put out a fire.

I have smoke detectors in every bedroom and the living room of my home. Not because I have an irrational fear of fire, but simply because it is easy and prudent to be prepared for the rare occasion that a fire happens while we are asleep.

I have a spare tire in my vehicles. Not because I have an irrational fear of being stranded, but simply because it is easy and prudent to be prepared for the rare occasion that I have a flat tire.

I have life insurance and health insurance. Not because I have an irrational fear of dying or getting sick, but simply because it is easy and prudent to be prepared for the rare occasion that I get sick or should I die young.

I wear a seat belt while driving. Not because I have an irrational fear of being in a car accident, but simply because it is easy and prudent to be prepared for the rare occasion that I am involved in one.

I work full time, so I take night classes at UAH. UAH is, you may recall, where almost a year ago exactly Amy Bishop ignored all the rules about firearms and went on a shooting spree, in the very building where I have classes, killing 3 and wounding 3 others. Anyway I frequently find myself walking at night after classes on my way to my vehicle. Now I don't feel particularly unsafe while going to my car, but, as the events of last year show, unexpected acts of violence do happen.

But all of this is beside the point. You still haven't answered my question:

If I am 21 years old, have undergone an extensive background check, and been found illegible for a concealed carry permit such that I can walk armed down main street surrounded by hundreds of my fellow citizens, why can't I do this on a college campus?