Speaking Plainly About Guns

KSL Television & Radio, Salt Lake City UT ^ | Feb. 12, 2004 | Duane Cardall

[TERMINATTOR]

Senate Majority Leader Michael Waddoups recently used what he described as “plain language” to explain his latest impudent effort to amend Utah’s liberal gun law.

As far as the conservative senator from Taylorsville is concerned, only the state legislature can set policy regarding guns on public property, including Utah’s colleges and universities.

May we use equally plain language to express KSL’s view . . . and what repeated public opinion polls suggest is the long-held majority view in this state: Senator Waddoups and his concealed carry cronies could use a good dose of common sense.

Guns, concealed or otherwise, don’t belong on college campuses!

The people charged with running Utah’s schools know what works and what is best for their institutions. The University of Utah, for example, has a 30-year-old gun policy that has helped maintain a safe haven for learning. Would forcing a policy change to allow concealed weapons, in reality, do anything to make the campus safer?

Let’s continue to speak plainly.

KSL is not against the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Guns have a place in American life. In recent years, though, the gun debate in Utah has gotten way out of whack. In plain language, it is time to do what’s best for all Utahns, not merely what will satisfy the narrow-mindedness of a few concealed carry fanatics.

[TERMINATTOR]

This from a narrow-minded anti-gun, and anti-freedom fanatic!

[aomagrat]

Guns, concealed or otherwise, don’t belong on college campuses!

The presence on guns on college campuses is immaterial. It's the presence of criminals and thugs on college campuses that cause problems.

[bolobaby]

Apparently, something called "rights" don't belong on college campuses, either. Go to college, lose your rights... nice incubator for the liberal professors to spread their disease.

[bolobaby]

Oh, yeah... and soon we'll see an article about how RAPE is so prevalent on college campuses! Forget the right on the female victim to PROTECT herself, though! They've got... uh... "resident assistants" in the dorms to handle that! (Yeah, right.)

Well, I guess you have to keep all those rape counselors in work somehow!

[rellimpank]

---I suppose that before the "thirty year old" gun ban, gunfights,etc., were an almost daily occurrence on the campus-----

[TERMINATTOR]

Do you suppose that if those criminals and thugs had a few bullet holes in them, it might be material?

[brbethke]

No, but students cooking squirrels and rabbits in the dorm kitchens were.

[aomagrat]

Sure, maybe "immaterial" was a poor choice of words. What I was saying was that guns don't cause crime, criminals and thugs do.

[Gritty]

Guns, concealed or otherwise, don’t belong on college campuses!

I think he misspoke here.

According to Liberals, it was probably meant to read;

"Conservatives, concealed or otherwise, don’t belong on college campuses!"

[steplock]

One more freedom getting ready to be trashed.

Simplicity and Constitutionally - there should be NO LAW restricting this.

What should happen - if a college does NOT want weapons on the campus they can make their own rules and simply remove those who break the rule.

No laws - no jack-booted ss-uniformed storm troopers in the classes - no LAWYERS (scum)- no judges - no jails.

The Kampus-Kops (I just like that name) can always call the police if the rule breaker refuses to leave the campus. The crime will be tresspassing on PRIVATE property.

Simple - Effective - CHEAP!

The politicians will NEVER go for that!

[King Prout]

BINGO

[King Prout]

blam.

[SevenDaysInMay]

All of America's children and adults should attend school at defenseless campuses?

Perhaps just K-12 children should be in declared gun-free zones. But wait, a couple of security guards can carry guns. Why?

Even the slaughter at Kent state would have turned out differently if the murdered students had any means of self-defense. IMO, that premeditated murder and mayhem by Ohio National Guardsmen deserved return fire. Murder by government has such a long and glorified history, kinda like islam as commanded by their koran and haddith.

Campus cops can always write up incident reports while most bodies can be retrieved by family.

[dcwusmc]

Bump this to read later... with lots of hostility toward the editorial writer who obviously knows NOTHING about RIGHTS...

[Kadric]

The matter a discussion is not "private" colleges put "public".

[NRA2BFree]

Guns, concealed or otherwise, don't belong on college campuses!

I'm sure campus rapists and other criminals will be happy to hear this idiot's plan!

[steplock]

In my reference PRIVATE means the College campuses belong to the people NOT to a bunch of lawyer scumbags maskerading as "knowledgeable" politicians creating unconstitutional laws for the "wussies".

[El Gato]

What should happen - if a college does NOT want weapons on the campus they can make their own rules and simply remove those who break the rule.

No laws - no jack-booted ss-uniformed storm troopers in the classes - no LAWYERS (scum)- no judges - no jails.

The Kampus-Kops (I just like that name) can always call the police if the rule breaker refuses to leave the campus. The crime will be tresspassing on PRIVATE property.

The would be fine, except for the fact that we are talking about a tax supported PUBLIC university, not a private one. Also not only students are not allowed to carry on this GOVERNMENT property, neither is anyone else. Don't know about Utah, but in many states the campus cops at state schools are real cops, with arrest powers and everything, not just private security guards or rent-a-cops. The University is a subdivision of the state government, and it can no more set it's own rules on such matters than a city or town can, if the legislature has preempted the field, and Utah's has done just that. As has that of Texas!

There is one other fly in the ointment as well, a federal law that prohibits guns, concealed or otherwise, on the grounds of educational institutions. It's part of the Gun Free School Zone's act, second edition, wherein Congress sprinkled a little more "Interstate Commerce" pixie dust on the old law, after the Supreme Court declared that education wasn't commerce, and thus the Federal government had no power to pass such a law, so they passed it again.

[El Gato]

, that premeditated murder and mayhem by Ohio National Guardsmen

Murder and mayhem it may have been, (The guardsmen called it self defense against a rock throwing mob, similar to the Palestinians who get popped by the Israelis now and again) but it was not premeditated.

"Peace Protesters" would sort of undermine their cause if they went around armed with firearms, don't you think.

[steplock]

People are forgetting ONE FACT ....

WE ARE the PUBLIC! A public institution does NOT belong to the lawyers, politicians and judges. NOR does it belong to the government.

The federal govt has NO AUTHORITY over the internal workings of a state - only in matters of inter-state commerce. Everything else has been stolen from the SHEEPLE by these slimeball lawyers, politicians, and judges.

Maybe it is time for Americans to READ their constitution AS IT WAS WRITTEN - in PLAIN ENGLISH.

There is no need to look up the meaning of the word "is".