Never heard of Ann Coulter, eh?
Posted on 02/23/2008 11:12:03 AM PST by neverdem
In the wake of last week’s tragedy at Northern Illinois University and last April’s massacre at Virginia Tech, the seemingly endless series of school shootings has incited debate over the safety of college communities across the country.
Yesterday, the Cornell College Republicans placed about 20 signs on the Arts Quad that publicized their stance on the increasingly polarizing issue of the concealed carry of weapons. They have joined the approximately 12,000 students nationwide who are part of a grassroots effort that is advocating for concealed weapons license holders to be able to carry their weapons on campuses.
Although prevalent on the Arts Quad during the morning hours, the removal of many of the signs by the afternoon conveyed a sense of disapproval from some members of the Cornell community who support the University’s “gun-free zone” policy.
According to a handout distributed by the College Republicans on the Arts Quad, a concealed carry policy entails that those with permits would be afforded the same rights to protect themselves (and others) on college campuses as they would be most public areas such as parks, malls etc.
“[Concealed carry] is an appropriate way to make our campus safer,” said Ahmed Salem ’08, president of the C.U. Republicans. “Shootings are a rarity, but people are dying. Not doing anything is the wrong solution.”
Daniel Sherman ’10 disagrees with the concealed carry policy.
“Universities are paces of learning, and guns do not contribute in any way towards this goal. It is unfortunate that troubled individuals have committed these acts, but counseling for those individuals, while continuing to maintain a safe atmosphere via current methods, is the best way to approach the issue [of maintaining a safe campus],” he said.
Angel Rendon ’10 agreed: “Although I doubt there would be shootouts on the quad because we think that the possibility of violence on our campus merits us all being allowed to carry extremely dangerous weapons. We should work on emergency alert alternatives before we give out guns.”
The College Republicans acknowledge that not every student should be permitted to have a handgun. They state that guns would not be allowed in dorms, and in order to obtain a permit to carry a weapon, an applicant must be 21 years old, have no criminal record, must pass a background check, and in New York State, must “demonstrate need” for a permit. Because they claim this last tenet is “unnecessarily restricted,” the College Republicans would work to get it removed.
The College Republicans’ effort is part of a growing national grassroots trend centered on the premise that making a campus a “gun-free zone” is not sufficient for ensuring the safety of those on it. “Gun-free zones are inadequate for ensuring campus safety. To arbitrarily distinguish college campuses as ‘gun-free zones’ is not only senseless, but dangerous. Nothing comforts a would-be murderer more than knowing all of his potential victims are helpless. Permitting concealed carry is a step the administration should take,” they stated in the handout.
Although the College Republicans have not approached the administration yet, they intend to bring the issues surrounding concealed carry of weapons to the forefront of the administrative agenda.
“We hope people take this event seriously and understand our logical and thoughtful arguments,” Salem said.
Well aware that many critics of concealed carry feel that an abundance of guns on campus would promote violence rather than limit it, Salem asserted, “It’s not the guns that kill people, it’s people.”
Raza Hoda ’11, a member of the College Republicans, further emphasized the importance of taking action at Cornell.
“Many people think school shootings are more prevalent in the southern states, but as shown by NIU, this is not the case,” he said.
According to CNN, Utah is currently the only state where guns can be legally permitted on all campuses. In Colorado, students are allowed to carry guns on all campuses besides the University of Colorado at Boulder, where the administration has applied to rezone the campus as a restricted area. Legislation to permit concealed carry on college and university campuses is pending in Georgia, Idaho, Washington, Arizona, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.
More Guns on Campus? (Q & A with W. Scott Lewis of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus)
“Universities are paces of learning, and guns do not contribute in any way towards this goal. It is unfortunate that troubled individuals have committed these acts, but counseling for those individuals, while continuing to maintain a safe atmosphere via current methods, is the best way to approach the issue [of maintaining a safe campus],” he said.
Now wait a second. Just about everyone of these shooters WAS counseled. And drugged. So much for counseling.
Hey numbskull. Who do you call when there is a criminal event at your school? The Code Pink peaceniks? Let me help you with the answer: you call people with guns.
The "enlightened" liberal gun grabbers overwhelm us with with their intelligence once again.
Your bet is safe! Unfortunately, for the Blue Staters, no relief in sight....perhaps some non-liberal arts campuses at Red States have a shot at protecting their own lives. NPI
Never heard of Ann Coulter, eh?
So much for college being an institution of higher learning.......dumbasses will never learn.
Oh well......
Funny, concealed carry actually exists on several campuses around the nation. Those campuses have not become shooting galleries. A bit of personal responsibility and restraint in dealing with others is clearly fostered by a resistant prey. The analogy that comes to mind is an environment where predatory behavior might result in you meeting the sheepdog. Historically, this is not a good outcome for the predator.
The right of individuals and students to protect themselves SUNY Buffalo
Girlfriend: [NIU] Shooter was taking cocktail of 3 drugs I can't wait for Schumer's hearings with Xanax, Ambien and Prozac.
Barack and Michelle Keeping the Faith
His and Her Finances (The Clintons)
Gay superdelegates may hold key in Dem prez race
Noting that a recent exit poll in California and New York showed lesbian, gay, and bisexual voters were 4 percent and 7 percent of the electorate, respectively, he said he expects the numbers in Texas and Ohio to be "sizeable."
From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
“Cornell College Republicans?”
Who would have thought?
I’m not sure how far they’d get with this, even if the university administration rolls over (fat chance!). After all, Ithaca is in NY, and I don’t believe that NY is all that gun-friendly - after all they’ve elected Eliot Spitzer governor and Hillary and Chuck Schumer as their senators.
It's all about "atmosphere" in liberal land, not actual reality.
Thanks for the ping!
We should check into the possibility of trading Cornell to China in exchange for a small reduction of our mountain of debt. Nah, on second thought the Chinese wouldn't go for it, Cornell's faculty is way too far left for even communists to tolerate.
From the article ... " ... Universities are paces of learning, and guns do not contribute in any way towards this goal ..."
Really?
And yet they allow these same students to participate in the deadly sport of archery?
"4-H Archery Club
Dates: Mondays, February 4 to March 10
Registration deadline: January 31
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Cost: $50/person
Location: Catskill Community Center"
http://arc.cce.cornell.edu/secondary/ourclass.htm
Anyone one else see the hypocrisy here?
According to CNN, Utah is currently the only state where guns can be legally permitted on all campuses. In Colorado, students are allowed to carry guns on all campuses besides the University of Colorado at Boulder, where the administration has applied to rezone the campus as a restricted area. Legislation to permit concealed carry on college and university campuses is pending in Georgia, Idaho, Washington, Arizona, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.
That does show some progress.
And this useful idiot thinks that "counseling" is the answer. Yeah, right. That approach has worked so well already.
Part and parcel of the same moonbat mindset that created these superpredators in the first place.
I know this has been beat to death, but I’d like to beat a couple of points;
As crazy as these shooters are, they are sane enough choose gun-free zones for their massacres.
In most of these shootings, we always hear the shooter calmly reloaded, then began shooting again......
Even if a ccw holder couldn’t immediately stop a madman, he’d have a fighting chance during reloading.
If just one student was able to return fire on the gunman, there might have been lives saved.
I wish them luck in shaping public opinion and university policies.
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