In my day, Student Activism consisted of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS, which actually still exists in a much watered down form), and The Weathermen.
Phooey! Those campus radicals were Idealists (read: Anarchists). Today there are new students with new ideals ... individual freedoms.
The Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) has called for a week of passive demonstrations. During the week beginning October 22, 2007, SCCC has called for students to wear empty holsters on campus.
I'm tempted to join them. Maybe I will. I'm getting long in the tooth, and my priorities are doing my job and earning the generous salary I'm provided from the state University System.
But I would like to support this drive to convince College administrators that students really care about their right to defend themselves on campus.
After the massacre at Virginia Tech, it's clear to most clear-thinking Americans that "Gun-Free Zones" don't protect college students against predatory madmen. What some may consider a protective policy, predators consider a 'target-rich' environment. If students don't buy into either concept, who are we to deny them the right to self defense?
The public outcry against "School Shootings' probably started with The Stockton Massacre.
It was brought most emphatically to the forefront of our attention by the Columbine High School Massacre,
but none of us are likely to feel comfortable with supporting the arming of juveniles, although allowing faculty and staff to arm themselves may be a good second step.
The first step just may be to acknowledge the right of adults on college campuses to defend themselves.
SCCC's position is that adults (21+ years old) with a Concealed Carry license should be permitted to carry concealed firearms on campus, for their own protection and for the protection of their fellow students.
Yes, in this state there are no laws forbidding an adult carrying a concealed handgun on campus. But school policy ... is inconsistent state-wide. Well, perhaps not so inconsistent; where policy exists, it is decidedly anti-gun.
When I consider my own participation, I have to consider two issues:
- This is a 'student-driven' movement. If the students don't care, is it my place to make their point for them?
- And if they do care ... if some students DO show up on campus with empty holsters ... would I be undermining their self-determinism by participating in a student-organized event?
Many of my co-workers, all of whom are aware that I shoot pistols in competition, are already vaguely uneasy with having a 'gun nut' in their office. In casual conversation, at least one co-worker has already stated that he 'never saw any reason why anyone would want to have a gun'.
On the other hand, I've already taken two co-workers to the range, and they seemed to enjoy themselves.
Stay tuned. I'll let you know what happens this week.
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