Students Strap On Empty Holsters to Protest Gun Restrictions

[Thor]

Students Strap On Empty Holsters to Protest Gun Restrictions on Campus

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

By Melissa Underwood
AP

Oct. 22: Ohio State University student Evan Peck, from Strongsville, Ohio, wears an empty holster on his hip.

College students across the country have been strapping empty holsters around their waists this week to protest laws that prohibit concealed weapons on campus, citing concerns over campus shootings.

"People who would otherwise be able to defend themselves are left defenseless when on campus," said Ethan Bratt, a graduate student wearing an empty holster this week on the campus of Seattle Pacific University.

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a group of college students, parents and citizens who organized after the deadly shootings at Virginia Tech University in April, launched the protest.

A national debate over gun laws on campus began in the wake of those shootings, in which a deranged student killed 32 people in a classroom building before committing suicide. It was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Campuses are prime targets for people intent on harming others because laws prohibit concealed weapons there, Bratt said.

But others believe college is no place for firearms.

"You don't like the fact that you can't have a gun on your college campus? Drop out of school," said Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

When someone pulls out a gun and starts firing in a crowded environment, it's more likely that additional victims will be harmed, Hamm said.

"Let's be grateful that those holsters are empty," he said.

• Click here to visit the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus Web site.

A group of 12 students chose to wear empty holsters to class this week at the University of Idaho as part of the nationwide protest.

Aled Baker, a junior, said he loses his constitutional right to protect himself and others when he steps on campus.

"It's null and void when you go on campus," the mechanical engineering student said.

Baker, a sportsman and hunter, has a license to carry a concealed handgun and hopes the protest will get people talking about the issue.

Many universities, like George Washington University, prohibit carrying concealed handguns on campuses.

"We do not allow weapons on campus for the safety and security of our student body and faculty," said Tracy Schario, spokeswoman for George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Justin Turner, a senior in criminology and history at Florida State University, also wants the ability to carry a concealed handgun on campus.

"I'm hoping that people actually realize that this is something that college students are serious about moving forward and realize that it's not about taking the law into your own hands; it's about taking personal responsibility for yourself," said Turner, chairman of the Florida State chapter of Students for the Second Amendment.

Congress is considering legislation that would tighten background checks and give states funding to submit information to a national database that would prevent guns from being sold to dangerous buyers. House lawmakers passed the legislation, but it remains in the Senate.

"It fixes the problem that the states are not submitting the necessary records of people who have been found by a court to be dangerously mentally ill," Hamm said.

Family members and survivors of the Virginia Tech shootings recently visited members of Congress to urge lawmakers to pass the legislation they believe could help prevent future tragedies.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,304806,00.html


GOOD on them !!!

[BRIT_in_the_weeds]

Wonder if the E-Bay wonks will get in on this, proudly claiming the empty evil holsters can't be bought on their web site

[nyffman]

"You don't like the fact that you can't have a gun on your college campus? Drop out of school," said Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

When someone pulls out a gun and starts firing in a crowded environment, it's more likely that additional victims will be harmed, Hamm said.

Very well thought out response by Mr. Hamm. He must be a constitutional scholar or something. And, just curious, since the country has lots of "crowded environments" and plenty of states that allow responsible people to carry handguns in public, could he show some evidence of a regular citizen with a gun making things significantly worse?

[Srigs]

"You don't like the fact that you can't have a gun on your college campus? Drop out of school," said Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

When someone pulls out a gun and starts firing in a crowded environment, it's more likely that additional victims will be harmed, Hamm said.

Very well thought out response by Mr. Hamm. He must be a constitutional scholar or something. And, just curious, since the country has lots of "crowded environments" and plenty of states that allow responsible people to carry handguns in public, could he show some evidence of a regular citizen with a gun making things significantly worse?

He would never do that. It would require actual work!

[gunflint]

Even with Ms Hamm's comment, it was a fairly balanced story.

[nyffman]

Even with Ms Hamm's comment, it was a fairly balanced story.

I agree, mostly. They showed both sides of the story. Even had links to both sides web sites. Where they blew it and showed their real colors was in the end where the legislation (HR2640 and whatever it's called in the Senate). They gave a slanted version of what it's about as if it's all good, just support it.

[1911fan]

"You don't like the fact that you can't have a gun on your college campus? Drop out of school," said Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

When someone pulls out a gun and starts firing in a crowded environment, it's more likely that additional victims will be harmed, Hamm said.

"Let's be grateful that those holsters are empty," he said.

So your options are be safe or be economically crippled for life?

Also by his logic, the Police should just sit by and wait for the shooter to finish or run out of ammo, because if they shoot, others might get hurt. That makes a lot of sense.

"We do not allow weapons on campus for the safety and security of our student body and faculty," said Tracy Schario, spokeswoman for George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Yup, thats worked really well in the past, hasn't it....

[BlackEagl]

"We do not allow weapons on campus for the safety and security of our student body and faculty," said Tracy Schario, spokeswoman for George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Do they really need to say that? Isn't DC a gun free zone as it is?