Letter to the Editor in regards to Carrying on Campus

[unclemoak]

Thought I'd share some letters to the editor from my college paper over the last couple weeks.

Rights to carry a weapon shouldn't be lost at school
Posted on November 17, 2008

Due to our Second Amendment rights, if you are 21 years of age or older, have a clean record and pass extensive background checks and investigations, you should be allowed to carry a weapon to defend yourself and others. Why is it that I am allowed to defend myself on one side of the street but when I cross that street on to campus I lose that right? If someone wants to bring a gun onto campus there is nothing to deter them. Carrying a concealed weapon allows an individual to defend him or herself in a life threatening situation.

I feel that if students pass an extensive background check and register with the campus to carry a concealed weapon this would deter terrorist acts on campus. It imposes more of a challenge for that individual to execute his or her violent act. The state of Utah, in light of Virginia Tech, passed legislation allowing students and faculty to carry on campus. When you are faced with a life-threatening situation, do you want to have the ability to defend your life or make it easier for that individual to take it?

[Name Removed]

sophomore-recreation, park and tourism management

Carrying weapon at school won't help during a crisis

In response to, "Rights to carry a weapon shouldn't be lost at school" (Nov. 17), I am so sick of people arguing for concealed carry on campus. Should someone start shooting, the last thing I'm going to want is more panicked students with guns. Can you really tell me that you won't be afraid, nervous and flooded with adrenaline if someone starts shooting up Willard? And then you want to take out your concealed gun and start firing? Presumably there would be students screaming, running around and general chaos. Yes, more bullets flying definitely sounds like the right answer! Your background check doesn't make you qualified. If everyone with a gun was qualified to use it any time they liked, everyone with a gun could be a police officer. Leave our safety to our brave, capable and most importantly, well-trained men and women in uniform.

Katy Gregory

senior-classics and ancient Mediterranean studies
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive...hool_wont.aspx

Officers might not show up at scene of a crime in time


In response to, "Carrying a weapon at school won't help during a crisis" (Nov. 19), I want to ask the author, where were the men and women in uniform that were supposed to protect the students of Virginia Tech? I am sure they were on their way to campus, but that certainly did not save the 30-plus innocent lives that were lost that day. Why would I want to put my life in someone else's hands when the federal and state constitutions give me the right to protect myself? Are you willing to die as a martyr for gun control? Imagine the thoughts going through your mind while you are staring down the barrel of a gun ready to be fired at your head. Would you be praying for a police officer to arrive?

I know I would be hoping someone in the room like me would have a firearm that may save our lives. This is not meant to be a knock on the fine men and women that are police officers in this country, but they cannot be everywhere you are. In your idealistic world, may you rest in peace.

*intelligent dude*

senior-aerospace engineering
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive...how_up_at.aspx

Mine From Today

Some people want to utilize rights, protect themselves

In response to Katy Gregory's letter, "Carrying weapon at school won't help during a crisis" (Nov. 19), I'm sick of people denying me my right to protect myself. I have no problem with you having the victim mentality and you being perfectly willing to not want to stand up for yourself if your life should ever be put on the line, because that is indeed your choice in life.

I, on the other hand, like to be able to utilize my rights, because let's face it, there are a lot of sick people in this world that are overly willing to take the lives of others. So let me ask you a question Katy. Do you have a fire extinguisher in your house? I'm guessing yes. Why do you need to have a fire extinguished when you should never need one and the fire department is only a phone call and a couple minutes away?

D.wilson

junior-industrial engineering

[LastManOut]

Most CCW folks are better trained and thus prepared to "take that shot" to end an undisciplined mainac's rampage. Why during VA Tech din't anyone even attempt to fight for their lives except the Nazi death camp survivor?

[panther76]

Good on ya. I would point out to these morons:

In PA it isn't a crime to carry on a college campus. The only thing a university could do is accuse you of violating a school policy and kick you out. If you get caught.

Training is important. I personally think it is something everyone should do. But making it mandatory doesn't jive with the 2nd amendment, or our even more explicit constitutional guarantees under the PA Constitution. Having mandatory training requirements to carry a firearm for self-defense, which is a basic human right, is like having "prior restraint" in free speech and saying that free speech only applies to journalists, lawyers, and politicians who are "trained" to responsibly voice opinions on public or political issues.


As for LE and training:
Rand Corps just released a giant study on the NYPD and found that they are basically poorly trained, have a lot of negligent discharges, and in documented gunfights apparently most officers can't hit the broadside of a barn.
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG717/

In Pittsburgh, in the last ten years there were about five or six incidents of LTCF owners using lethal force to defend themselves. No one was charged, and no one except the bad guys got shot.

One of the bad guys that got killed was a serial rapist known as the "East End Rapist" (Pitt is in the "East End"). He was stopped when a woman who worked at the University of Pittsburgh, after she came home from work and left her house again to walk her dog. If she had been attacked a half hour earlier on her way home she would have ended up raped or dead. Instead he ended up in the hospital with gunshot wounds, and went to prison.

[mikepro8]

Most CCW folks are better trained and thus prepared to "take that shot" to end an undisciplined mainac's rampage. Why during VA Tech din't anyone even attempt to fight for their lives except the Nazi death camp survivor?

I read a great article on this a few months back... it was written by a cop (pro-carry cop).

Basically, it stated that society in general is to blame for the students not fighting back. Years ago it was okay to defend yourself if you were attacked... even as a young boy in a school yard fight. "who threw the first punch?" Well, that doesnt matter anymore. All parties involved get punished for the violence of fighting. Kids are being trained and dont even realize it to NOT fight back. Same holds true for adults today. Someone breaks into a home, is threatened or is endanger of seriously bodily injury and shoots the intruder. The homeowner is investigated for homicide until proven innocent.

Unless they are trained to fight back, they wont because thats how we are programming our kids. Even then, some people, including police, freeze during times of high stress.

They dont fight back because in their heads its wrong to fight at all.

[adymond]

mikepro8 +1 to you sir.

I'm glad my wife and I are on the same page as far as our son defending himself. He will learn to fight back until the other person is no longer fighting. We don't want him going out looking for a fight, but when a kid pushes you you don't just sit there and cry. You stand up and push them back. You defend yourself.

It's funny that Katy's letter assumes that anyone who is a police officer would automaticly get an LtCF and that not one person with an LtCF could be a police officer. She assumes that the police are not freightened when the bullets are flying and that somehow the fear one feels will cloud judgement. I suspect neither she nor anyone she knows has ever been in a SHTF scenerio.

[mikepro8]

mikepro8 +1 to you sir.

I'm glad my wife and I are on the same page as far as our son defending himself. He will learn to fight back until the other person is no longer fighting. We don't want him going out looking for a fight, but when a kid pushes you you don't just sit there and cry. You stand up and push them back. You defend yourself.

It's funny that Katy's letter assumes that anyone who is a police officer would automaticly get an LtCF and that not one person with an LtCF could be a police officer. She assumes that the police are not freightened when the bullets are flying and that somehow the fear one feels will cloud judgement. I suspect neither she nor anyone she knows has ever been in a SHTF scenerio.

Amen to the bolded part. you can be damn sure that the police are scared... the ones that arent scared will get you sued, fired or killed I've always been told.

[WhiteFeather]

How about ALL the ex-military that served in Iraqi, Afghanistan or other counties that was trusted with lethal force, gotten out after serving their country and what they can’t be trusted with firearms now when they go to college?

I am sorry this myth that most college students are 18-22 years of age, are all stupid, get high, are drunkards is a fantasy created by Hollywood. That we can’t trust responsible adults on a college campus for their own safety with a choice to posses legal firearms is a crock. If the college is REALLY were concerned with safety they could make a requirement (a college class) in firearm safety / confrontation mitigation to minimize any possible problems as a better policy that creating a whole scool of victims. Sure beats their failed policy to disarm all the people who will obey their policies, gives all the pscyho’s, crazies, and criminals easy prey.

Recent history has showed that is a recipe for murderous rampages by wackos in these victim disarmament zones artificially created by their no firearm policies at the college campus, and there is lots of cases of how past attempts was stopped or minimized the casualty by responsible gun owners direct action to confront them.

What is also amazing how long ago did many of these same colleges used to have firearm clubs or shooting ranges for students on them, did they get rid of them because of all the shooting, or for for Political Correctness reasons?

[sjohn26]

"Katy Gregory

senior-classics and ancient Mediterranean studies"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......the liberal mindset. Must be part of the MRS Degree

[Yellowfin]

I read a great article on this a few months back... it was written by a cop (pro-carry cop).

Basically, it stated that society in general is to blame for the students not fighting back. Years ago it was okay to defend yourself if you were attacked... even as a young boy in a school yard fight. "who threw the first punch?" Well, that doesnt matter anymore. All parties involved get punished for the violence of fighting. Kids are being trained and dont even realize it to NOT fight back. Same holds true for adults today. Someone breaks into a home, is threatened or is endanger of seriously bodily injury and shoots the intruder. The homeowner is investigated for homicide until proven innocent.

Unless they are trained to fight back, they wont because thats how we are programming our kids. Even then, some people, including police, freeze during times of high stress.

They dont fight back because in their heads its wrong to fight at all.

My kids won't be subject to this insipid disease of sissiness, that's for sure. But it is sickening and scary that too many people have been. I dread being a parent.

[imperialism2024]

Unfortunately, carrying on campus will provide minimal benefit until the rights of 18-20 year olds are recognized.

While I believe that schools should recognize the RKBA, it's ultimately a useless battle in Pennsylvania. There is no statutory prohibition against carrying on college campuses, and concealed is concealed. And all students under the age of 21 are left as defenseless as they are now.

The symptom is being recognized, that college students are freely made victims of opportunistic criminals. However, the disease has been misdiagnosed.