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An Uphill Fight for the Right to Carry Guns on Campus
WSJ | 8 July 2009 | ALEX ROTH and ANSLEY HAMAN

Posted on 07/08/2009 9:15:19 PM PDT by greatdefender

Gun-rights advocates have won victories in several states in recent months allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons in public parks, taverns and their work places.

So it came as a surprise to Tennessee state Rep. Stacey Campfield that he couldn't persuade his colleagues to pass a law allowing students at public colleges to carry concealed firearms on campus. The bill died this spring in the Republican-controlled legislature -- one of 34 straight defeats nationwide for people who believe a gun wouldn't be out of place in a college student's knapsack.

aucous debates over the parameters of the Second Amendment have become a staple of the culture wars. But even on an issue as divisive as gun control, states may be nearing something resembling a national consensus: Guns don't belong in a college classroom.

In the two years since a Virginia Tech student shot and killed 32 students and professors, gun-rights advocates have failed to pass laws even in states strongly supportive of gun owners' rights, including Louisiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Mississippi and Kentucky. In June, a bill died in the Texas legislature in the face of criticism from college administrators and student groups, who invoked the specter of students toting loaded weapons to booze-soaked campus parties.

Gun-control advocates tout what they label an unprecedented winning streak, noting that it comes at a time when even many Democrats are wary of alienating U.S. gun owners.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: banglist; campus; concealedcarry; student; virginiatech

1 posted on 07/08/2009 9:15:19 PM PDT by greatdefender
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To: greatdefender

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124700997480908627.html

Sorry, I forgot to post the link to the article


2 posted on 07/08/2009 9:17:06 PM PDT by greatdefender (If You Want Peace.....Prepare For War)
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To: greatdefender
Texas had the votes to pass a bill this year, but it died due to a fight over a voter ID bill that dragged on for days.
3 posted on 07/08/2009 9:18:21 PM PDT by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.)
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To: greatdefender
This is a real disappointment. It seems that people just don't seem to understand that the bad guys will always have guns, and that the good guys need to be able to defend themselves against the bad guys!

That's such a simple concept to me that I have difficulty understanding people who can't see it.

4 posted on 07/08/2009 9:19:49 PM PDT by basil ( It's time to eliminate all "Gun Free Zones")
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To: greatdefender

Nonsense! The fight has been won! If you intend to mug and/or kill students that happen to be outside of their dorms at 3 am, no one’s going to stop you unless you’re chained those little illuminated CAMPUS SECURITY phone booths! No need to change the law!


5 posted on 07/08/2009 9:20:21 PM PDT by dr_who
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

Comment #7 Removed by Moderator

To: SpineSurgeon

I believe that one of the founding fathers [at least] said something like “it is the duty of every patriot to disobey unjust laws”... maybe if EVERYBODY carried their gun and a copy of the constitution[s] (fed & state) then what could the officials do?

(The reason I bring up state constitutions is because my state’s constitution specifically prohibits any county or municipality from infringing on the right to bear arms by law or ‘regulation’.)


8 posted on 07/08/2009 9:37:49 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: SpineSurgeon
Everyone is a good person (even murderers), and so if we take the tools for murdering away from people, then people won't murder each other anymore.

Sorry, but I disagree. The truth is even worse.

Hoplophobes are worried they are only an impulse away from murdering someone. They are afraid that if they have a gun, they might lose control and kill someone with it.

This self-loathing is projected onto everyone else. Think about it: if you didn't trust yourself with a gun, would you trust anyone else with one?

Everytime they see the perp-walk on TV, they cringe and worry: "there but for the grace of God go I".

9 posted on 07/08/2009 9:51:57 PM PDT by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.)
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To: SpineSurgeon
Good post, but your last line doesn’t make much sense when you consider that most liberals don’t believe in a deity.

It's an idiom. Don't take it too literally.

11 posted on 07/08/2009 9:55:09 PM PDT by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.)
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To: SpineSurgeon
I think the truth lies somewhere in between my explanation and yours. Not all liberals are afraid of guns-guys like Kerry have shot them many times and still oppose concealed carry.

There's a subset of liberals that are authoritarians like Kerry, that believe that only they (or someone that answers to them) should have guns.

13 posted on 07/08/2009 10:12:04 PM PDT by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.)
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To: greatdefender

Maybe if college enrollment could be restricted to actual students, this “consensus” would change. Most of our nation’s colleges are predominantly populated by young adults whose chief purpose in being there is 4 years of partying and other nonscholarly self-indulgence.


14 posted on 07/08/2009 10:44:56 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker (Vote for a short Freepathon! Donate now if you possibly can!)
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To: greatdefender

My TN town (very blue) is full of cute little “Gun free zone” signs and “Peace Zone” and it just makes me shake my head. They might as well put up signs that say, “Please don’t shoot me...I’ll do anything that you want just please don’t kill me.” Neither work very well. :(


15 posted on 07/09/2009 1:47:06 AM PDT by TNdandelion (This should be fun.)
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