We Need Your Old and Used Holsters.

[Damage control]

Here is an email I received early this morning. Sorry if it was already posted.

DC

We Need Your Old and Used Holsters.
Please forward this email to every gun owner that you know, post in forums, blog or print and hand out.

In partnership with the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) , TGSCOM Inc. (www.thegunsource.com, www.topglock.com, glockworld.com, xdpistols.com and more) encourages gun owners, gun stores, police officers, manufacturers and concerned citizens to help the SCCC with its planned 2nd Annual Empty Holster Protest during the week April 21st - 25th. This is a great chance to help keep the younger generation involved in our sport and active in defending our Constitutional rights.

The 21,000 member strong Students for Concealed Carry On Campus is conducting its 2nd Annual Empty Holster Protest on college campuses around the nation. Thousands of college students will attend classes wearing empty holsters in protest of state laws and school policies that stack the odds in favor of dangerous criminals and armed killers by disarming law abiding citizens licensed to carry concealed handguns virtually everywhere else. Protesters will focus on sharing the facts of concealed carry with students and faculty who may not be aware of the current laws that exist.

TheGunSource.com will function as a distribution point for the SCCC and will donate our time, money and effort to get as many holsters to these students as possible. Your kind donations will help secure our rights and help involve the younger generation in our sport and beliefs.

IMMEDIATE ACTION IS NECESSARY!!! In order to get the holsters to the students as quickly as possible, please ship your holster donation no later than April 4th.

Send your holsters to:

Holsters For SCCC
c/o TheGunSource.com
1449 S. Broadway Street
Green Bay, WI 54304
Gun dealers: We encourage you to have a donation box in your store. Many stores have offered to sell inexpensive holsters for donations as well. This is a good opportunity to get your customers involved.

To find out more about the Students For Concealed Carry On Campus click here: http://www.concealedcampus.org

For more on this program click here: http://www.thegunsource.com

[Shawn.L]

any students going to participate in this?

[DCChris]

I don't mean to be a dick, but, if you want to carry on campus, wouldn't you more than likely already have a gun? And a holster for said gun?

[Shawn.L]

I don't mean to be a dick, but, if you want to carry on campus, wouldn't you more than likely already have a gun? And a holster for said gun?

probally. Im not a student. Just wanted to know if anyone was doing this.

I also figure maybe you only have an IWB holster, and people would donate their old belt holsters for this. I know I never OC, and only own IWB, when I went to Harrisburgh on Monday for the rally people suggested wearing an empty holster. I was wearing one (my gun was secured by the capitol police when I entered) but no one could tell, Its a CC holster.

[XD45]

most IWB can be made OWB by moving it to the weak side. not exactly good retention for carry but for an empty holster thing thats all you need to do.


but alot of college kids are under 21 and arent gonna have holsters

[Philadelphia]

I don't mean to be a dick, but, if you want to carry on campus, wouldn't you more than likely already have a gun? And a holster for said gun?

Logical question, but remember that there are lots of people who support gun rights who don't even own a gun.

My (and your) guns keep the criminals guessing who has one and helps to deter crime. A lot of people understand that even if they choose not to own a gun themselves.

[eXceLon]

I don't mean to be a dick, but, if you want to carry on campus, wouldn't you more than likely already have a gun? And a holster for said gun?

I put off becoming a gun owner until I was out of college, because there wasn't really any point. Nowhere to keep it, and I was too broke to afford one anyways.

I've got a crappy holster that I have no use for anymore. I'll probably donate it to the cause.

[axmdr40]

I'll be doing this....now which one will match my outfit....the serpa, the pancake, or the belt slide...hmmm choices choices choices

[eXceLon]

I just shipped out a holster this morning. Thanks for posting this here.

[axmdr40]

Moronic Story in the Pitt News:

The College Republicans send me a lot of e-mails. I haven't taken my name off the mailing list because I like getting e-mail, and I like having a laugh.

And last week, I was glad that I was still on their list because I received from them an e-mail of great interest.

The subject line read "Stand Up for Your Second Amendment Rights!" and the body of the e-mail advertised an event planned for next Tuesday, April 22, sponsored by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.

The event, to be held in front of the Cathedral of Learning, is a kick-off rally for the nationally held "Empty Holster Protest." According to the event's Facebook page, the "Empty Holster Protest" is a week-long protest in which members of SCCC will wear empty holsters around campus to show that they are responsible, trained gun owners who deserve to be able to protect themselves and others by carrying a concealed weapon onto college campuses.

Do I fault the College Republicans for advertising this event as having anything to do with the Second Amendment? Yes. But the SCCC is responsible for the rally and not the College Republicans. And what its members are rallying for has very little to do with the Second Amendment.

I don't really believe in a person's "right to bear arms." It is an antiquated piece of legislation, necessary at the time it was written perhaps, but something that has spiraled into a number of laws and loopholes that have allowed for the propagation of gun violence in the United States. However, at the moment, the Constitution allows private citizens with gun licenses to own guns, so my dislike of weapons amounts to a hill of beans.

What the Constitution does not guarantee, though, and what the SCCC wants, is the right for people to bring those weapons into our classrooms and dorms. This I refuse to consent to.

The SCCC claims that allowing students to carry weapons on university property might prevent deaths in the event of a campus shooting because the responsible, trained gun owners will be able to take down the shooter in the early stages of the massacre.

Posted along with mock-ups of a T-shirt and poster design are a number of pictures of the guns that some of the group's founders own. They are displayed with an air of pride and include, among a few handguns, pictures of high-power weapons that couldn't be carried easily in a holster, let alone concealed - weapons made not for protection or self-defense, but in order that the possessor might feel more powerful.

These pictures show exactly the hypocrisy of the attitude of the SCCC.

What the SCCC wants is not a safer university but a university in which its members can walk around with more confidence and arrogance because they are made more dominant by a weapon that is strapped to their chests or tucked into their belts.

I know that next Tuesday is a big day for any politically minded person.

And I know that it falls during the middle of finals week and that the weather is supposed to be bad, but I have to encourage every single person out there who feels that a student's right to live a safe and nonviolent life to stop by the rally next Tuesday and inform the SCCC that its campaign is not one that will be supported here at Pitt.

E-mail Cassidy at cassidygruber@gmail.com.

My response to Miss Gruber:

Miss Gruber,

It's highly unfortunate that you hold the misguided opinions that you do about firearms ownership, because you make it extremely clear that you know absolutely nothing of the concept gun rights and self-defense. First you make a wildly inaccurate statement that the "right to bear arms" is an outdated right and that it "propagated violence." You have no foundational claim for this statement. In fact, there is much evidence of the exact opposite. First, the right to bear arms is as applicable today as it was 200 years ago. It is part of the individual rights secured by the Bill of Rights, and is designed, just as the other 9 Amendments of the Bill of Rights, to secure the liberty of the people, and to prevent tyrannical government from oppressing the people. As for propagating violence, in 2002 Professor Gary Kleck, a professor at Florida State University's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice publish a work, Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control, which combine research by the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, the CDC's Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System, and the BATF's Firearm's Commerce report that proved that although firearms sales have steadily increased since 1970, the homicide rate, and specifically the firearms homicide rate has dropped drastically. The interestingly ironic contrast to this is the United Kingdom past serious gun control laws over the past 50 years, culminating with the 1997 ban. Over the time leading up to this ban, as the UK got stricter and stricter with gun control, the homicide rate steadily increased.

Concealed carry in the classroom, or your dorm? I've got news for you. There is NOTHING illegal about it in Pennsylvania. The governing document for firearms in is Title 18, better known as the PA Uniformed Firearms Act. It defines the licensing, the use of force, and such things as prohibited areas to possess a firearm. Under this code there are two places off limits are court facilities (§913) and elementary and secondary schools (§912), although it may be noted that §912 includes a clause that states that "It shall be a defense that the weapon is possessed and used in conjunction with a lawful supervised school activity or course or is possessed for other lawful purpose." Although unchallenged in case law, "other lawful purpose," could be self-defense, because one of the reasons one can apply for a License to Carry Firearms (LTCF) is self-defense. Federal Facilities, Detention Facilities, and the secured parts of the airport are off limits due to federal law. Higher Education facilities (colleges and universities) are not among those off limits, and there is no law that prohibits possession or carrying of firearms on campus. A university policy does not hold any legal weight.

Now, addressing your uninformed characterization of the SCCC as hypocritical egomaniac, I was unaware that valuing life was hypocritical or egotistical. You think that the individuals who own and carry firearms do as part of superiority complex. Unfortunately for you, this is dead wrong. Exercising ones right to self-defense is a serious issue which firearms owners do not take lightly. Why do people own and carry firearms then? Because they realize that they alone are responsible for the protection of themselves and their family. Yes, laws are in place designed to ensure this protection, but who is out on the streets enforcing this law? Police officers, right. So they are here to protect you. You shouldn't feel the need to carry a firearm to protect yourself. Again, an unfortunate situation is presented. Read this carefully: You are not being protected by law enforcement. Yes, police officers are a vital asset to the community and should be commended for their service to the public, but they cannot be everywhere at once. They also hold no legal obligation to protect the citizen of the United States, as ruled in several Supreme Court, Appellate Court, and Court of Appeals rulings. Just to name a few, Warren v. District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Department, DeShaney.

Those who carry firearms are not paranoid or egotistical; the vast, vast majority of LTCF owners are extremely responsible, knowledgeable about firearms operations and laws governing firearms ownership, carry, and self-defense. They carry with the hope that they never have to use their firearms in defense of themselves or others, but live with the realization that they alone are responsible for their safety, and if the time may come, they are able to employ the necessary force in order to stop a threat to their lives.

I am not, nor have I ever been associated with the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. But their message is an important one. The right to self defense should not be limited by the bounds of a university grounds. "Gun Free Zones" are victim disarmament zones, and are preferred by criminals because they know that easy targets exist in mass quantities.

I would like to end by paraphrasing a somewhat common parable shared within the defensive firearm community. "Most people in this world just want to get through their live without hassles, and they are genuinely good people. We call them sheep. The go about their lives without bothering other people, but they have no viable means to defend themselves. Next, there are wolves, which prey upon the sheep, because they recognize them as easy targets. Rarely do wolves attack a large group of sheep, but sometimes even when they do, the sheep are so scared, and they just try and get away. Rarely will you ever seeing a sheep help fight a wolf off another sheep. Then there are the sheepdogs. Sheepdogs are sort of like sheep, they just want to go about their lives and be left alone, but their crucial difference is that they have the means to defend themselves and others from the wolves. Wolves rarely attack a sheepdog. A wolf will usually move on to another pasture when he knows a sheepdog is around. In the same way, a violent criminal will usually move on to another victim if he can't tell if it's a sheep or a sheepdog. If every sheep in the world turned into a sheepdog, what would happen to all the wolves of the world? Who would they prey on?

Empty holster protest starts tomorrow, I'll have a whole pile of PA Gun Rights flyers with me, fresh from the university computer lab printers.