AmmoLand.com

By Shannon Barnett

Opening Up U.S. Campuses to Guns

AmmoLand Gun News

USA --(Ammoland.com)- After several recent college campus shooting incidents, many states are opening up their legislative agenda to the idea allowing students to carry guns on campus.

Utah is the only state that currently allows concealed carry at all public colleges and universities. Other than that, there is a mix between states that prohibit concealed carry on college campuses and states that leave the decision up to the college or university.

There’s a lot of talk about this issue, with many people “up in arms” about the possibility of a college student having the right to carry a gun to school. Even some gun rights advocacy groups are against this idea. Even I questioned the proposal at first thought, but I now see things in a new light.

It is ridiculous for anyone to believe that allowing students to carry concealed weapons on campus will change anything. This legislation won’t “open up” campuses to guns; campuses are already open to guns! If they weren’t, the gunmen of the past campus shooting incidents would not have been able to accomplish their attacks.

Although it may not be legal, it is easy to carry a concealed weapon on campus today.

Yes, this legislation will increase the amount of guns carried on campus, but it will increase the amount of legal and safe guns carried on campus. Right now, the only guns on campus are those carried by authorized university law enforcement and security and those carried by bad people looking to do bad things. Those students who have a concealed handgun license refrain from carrying their guns on campus, because they know they could be expelled or arrested.

In the event of a campus shooting, university law enforcement and security may not have enough coverage to stop an attack from a rogue gunman, but they are rarely present in classrooms and hallways where attacks often seem to occur. If students who are licensed to carry a firearm were allowed to bring their weapon to school, they could provide protection for themselves and those around them in the event of a school attack.

Although I do believe that students should be allowed to carry a gun on campus, I do think there should be a system in place to log which students have a gun license and choose to carry on campus and which students do not choose to carry on campus or do not have a gun license. This could be registered when the student goes to get his/her student identification badge. Campuses should then verify the student’s concealed handgun license and require them to attend a one-day conference to train them on how to react during a potential campus attack. Requiring this training will solidify their responsibility of carrying a weapon on campus.

Because many college campuses are open to the public, it is imperative that we give students the right to protect themselves and their peers. To learn more about our side of this debate, visit the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus website.

About: Shannon Barnett owns the site Careers in Criminal Justice. In her spare time, she enjoys writing articles for various other sites on many topics of interest.

Filed under: Shooting Industry News by Ammoland 4 Comments »

After 2 restaurant murders of disarmed victims in a single weekend, a permit-holder shoots perp.

Grass Roots North Carolina for Firearms Education

North Carolina --(Ammoland.com)- Could Senate Republicans have prevented the murder of Danielle Watson?

Danielle was a manager at the Flying Biscuit Café. Last weekend, while closing the restaurant, she was murdered by an ex-con recently released after doing time for armed robbery.

In a classic application of “Dial 911 & Die!” Charlotte police botched their response to her fiancés 911 call, and never even discovered her body, stabbed and left behind a dumpster, until the next day. It was the second Charlotte restaurant murder in a single weekend, highlighting the need to pass House Bill 111, “Handgun Permit Valid in Parks & Restaurants.”

Right now, concealed handgun permit-holders are prohibited from protecting their families anywhere alcohol is “sold and consumed,” which includes many restaurants. This includes not only restaurant patrons, but also restaurant workers, since the only people exempt from the ban are restaurant “owners and lessees.” For full details, see GRNC president Paul Valone’s article at: http://exm.nr/StopRestaurantHomicide

How it should end
Now contrast this with another restaurant crime, only one week later. Just across the South Carolina border, in Spartanburg, Dante Lamont Williams and another man entered the Waffle House on Chesnee Highway, both armed with handguns. But when they held customers at gunpoint, a patron who was a concealed handgun permit holder shot Williams, killing him. The other robber fled, and innocent lives were saved.

Republicans do nothing
Despite passing in the House, however, the bill is languishing in the Senate Judiciary I Committee, where Republican Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (Guilford, Rockingham) has so far refused the bill a hearing on the premise that the topic doesn’t “poll well.” Meanwhile, as Republicans dither and fret about polls, restaurant workers are dying.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED:
Immediately email AND call

Republican leadership:

• Sen. Phil Berger, Senate President Pro Tem, at Phil.Berger@ncleg.net and (919) 733-5708
• Sen. Tom Apodaca, Senate Rules Chairman, at Tom.Apodaca@ncleg.net, and (919) 733-5745
• Sen. Buck Newton, Senate Judiciary Chairman, at Buck.Newton@ncleg.net, and (919) 715-3030

Deliver This Message

(use subject line: STOP RESTAURANT HOMICIDE)

Dear Senator:

While House Bill 111, “Handgun Permit Valid in Parks & Restaurants,” languishes in the Senate Judiciary I Committee, restaurant workers are dying. In a single weekend, recently, Charlotte experienced two such murders, including that of 25-year-old Danielle Watson, a manager who was closing the Flying Biscuit Café when she was murdered by Mark Cox, an ex-con just released after doing time for armed robbery.

Police botched the 911 response, only finding her body behind a dumpster the next day, but it is your chamber that is preventing restaurant workers like Danielle from defending themselves: The Flying Biscuit has an on-premise alcohol consumption permit, where everyone but the “owner or lessee” is prohibited from protecting themselves with firearms.

Now contrast this with another restaurant crime, only one week later. Just across the South Carolina border, in Spartanburg, Dante Lamont Williams and another man entered the Waffle House on Chesnee Highway. Both men were armed with handguns. But when they held customers at gunpoint, a patron who was a concealed handgun permit holder shot Williams, killing him. The other robber fled, and innocent lives were saved.

Despite what newspaper editorials claim, nobody is advocating “drunks with guns.” As you well know, under HB 111, concealed handgun permit-holders will still be prohibited from imbibing alcohol.

Stop being a slave to polls, and start leading. Pass HB 111 to STOP RESTAURANT HOMICIDE. I will be monitoring your actions via Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully,

About:
Grass Roots North Carolina/Forum for Firearms Education is a non-profit, all volunteer organization devoted to educating the public about trends which abridge the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, and engaging in grass roots activism to preserve those freedoms. Formed in 1994 to conduct a highly successful rally for the Second Amendment, GRNC has gone on to conduct projects like “Remember in November: A Gun Owner’s Guide to Voting,” bringing concealed carry to North Carolina. Visit:www.grnc.org

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