Posted on 03/18/2011 12:13:47 PM PDT by marktwain
The right of JMU students to wield guns was the hot topic the week before spring break.
"The issue on our campus is that anyone is allowed to bring a gun on campus, but it's illegal for a student or faculty member to carry a [concealed] gun," said Emily Buck, a senior and co-chair of College Republicans.
She said she is concerned that the current law infringes on students' ability to defend themselves if someone were to come on campus with a firearm.
Buck said that even if an area is gun-free, that doesn't at all mean it is safe.
Incidents like the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and a January incident at Florida State University where a student was accidentally shot and killed by a friend wielding an AK-47 have stirred controversy regarding guns on college campuses and whether it's safer with or without them.
To share their pro-gun rights agenda, JMU's College Republicans and several community organizations celebrated Second Amendment Rights Week through various events, including speakers and trips to local rifle ranges.
The events ran Monday through Thursday and were open to both College Republicans and non-members, according to Buck.
Thursday featured a visit from two members of the National Rifle Association who lead "NRA U," a one-day information session to inform college communities of misconceptions of gun control.
Brent Gardner and Seth Waugh are representatives of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, the section of the NRA responsible for a majority of the group's political work, including establishing grassroots connections with communities.
The focus of their presentation was on the often unfair portrayal of what is, in their opinion, ineffective gun control legislation.
"We're not going to say that there aren't issues or challenges with guns," Gardner said. "But there is most certainly a difference between gun control and crime control."
Gardner explained that criminals are labeled as such for a reason - they break laws and commit crimes. He felt that any legislation passed would only affect law abiding citizens' ability to defend themselves, as criminals would do whatever necessary to break laws.
Waugh, who had previously worked on Capitol Hill, wrapped up the presentation with a call to action for JMU students. He urged students to take action through their vote, by electing pro-gun rights candidates.
"Candidates are focusing more and more on the young people because they're becoming a much more reliable source of votes," said Waugh, who stressed the impact every single vote can have, as well as the many ways to get involved with politics.
Everything from volunteering at polls or phone banks to a lawn sign can have a profound impact, according to Waugh.
The presentation was well-received by the 30-plus students in attendance, who all were offered a free one-year membership to the NRA for attending.
Samuel Reiman, a sophomore media arts and design major, felt somewhat swayed by the presentation.
"I thought they did a very good job and presented some very compelling points that brought me into thinking this organization is a good thing," Reiman said.
Reiman felt that the fact that the NRA presents themselves as a non-partisan group was commendable in today's political world.
He couldn't resist the free membership, either.
Additionally, two trips to shooting ranges and classes on proper safety and firing techniques were provided by local sponsors, including Ashby Arms, The Flying Rabbit, American Firearms and even a local state representative.
Contact Ryan Platt at plattrf@dukes.jmu.edu.
Alma mater ping!
Future conservatives and FReepers!
Isn’t JMU fairly conservative to start with?
West-central Virginia, in which JMU’s host city, Harrisonburg, is located is a fairly conservative area. JMU cannot, however, be said to be conservative by any reasonable definition of the term. Its faculty’s ideology is every bit as skewed as other universities and colleges, and its policies reflect that. They are virtually indistinguishable from those at Berkeley or Harvard.
It’s Virginia’s state preemption law that prevents JMU from prohibiting non-students and non-faculty from carrying firearms while traversing JMU property. Virginia CC permits are state-issued. Local statutes cannot override state law in Virginia. A few years back a court case on this exact topic - carry on campuses - made that clear. If JMU could stop carrying on its grounds, it would do it in a New York minute.
Thanks for the info— I must have been thinking of a different school.
When I was there 25 years ago it was not whacko liberal, really it was more apolitical than anything else. Students were generally more worried about getting through class or getting wasted that night than they were about huge political issues. I can’t imagine, however, that you can call *any* medium-sized state university like JMU “fairly conservative” nowadays with a very few exceptions. Harrisonburg and the middle Shenendoah Valley in general are conservative, but that doesn’t extend to a 14,000+ student university in the middle of a city of 35,000.
I’ll say this, though—you could do a LOT worse than to send your kids there. It’s a very good school in several areas.
}:-)4 (JMU ‘87)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.