Mike
Site Co-Founder
imported post
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_7688004#
In plain view
Holstered guns in open view don't belong on campus
Tribune Editorial
Article Launched:12/11/2007 12:32:38 AM MST
Utah law allows students with concealed-carry permits to pack handguns on state-owned college campuses. Some of those students are pushing that envelope, arguing that the University of Utah cannot prohibit them from carrying loaded firearms in plain view. The university is pushing back, and for good reason.
Imagine you were an instructor or student in a class and someone other than a peace officer walked in carrying a holstered handgun in plain view. What would you do?
One instructor told us she would immediately dismiss class and tell the students to leave.
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, that sounds reasonable to us.
If you were a student in that class, would you stick around? We wouldn't.
That's why the university's policy prohibiting even students with concealed-carry permits from packing in plain view makes sense. Guns on the hips of people other than uniformed cops naturally make other people nervous. It's tough to concentrate on a lecture or class discussion when the kid on the next row is openly packing heat.
Debates in class sometimes become heated. An instructor cannot be expected to teach knowing that someone in the class might pop off with something more than a snarky comment.
The students who want to slap a sidearm on their hip should understand that, but apparently some don't. One told a Tribune reporter that others should not view an openly carried handgun as a menace. "I would hope that if someone sees a gun, they would come to the rational conclusion that if this person is intent to do harm, he wouldn't be carrying a gun for everyone to see."
Maybe. Maybe not. If the person carrying a gun is a stranger, how can you automatically assume he is law-abiding and has no malicious intent? That's why cops wear uniforms and carry badges, to allay that very concern.
In the same breath, some of these gun-rights students argue that no one other than a peace officer should be able to question them about why they are carrying a gun. Now who's being unreasonable?
The U. should stick to its guns. No open carry on campus, with the exception of peace officers and ROTC students in uniform.
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_7688004#
In plain view
Holstered guns in open view don't belong on campus
Tribune Editorial
Article Launched:12/11/2007 12:32:38 AM MST
Utah law allows students with concealed-carry permits to pack handguns on state-owned college campuses. Some of those students are pushing that envelope, arguing that the University of Utah cannot prohibit them from carrying loaded firearms in plain view. The university is pushing back, and for good reason.
Imagine you were an instructor or student in a class and someone other than a peace officer walked in carrying a holstered handgun in plain view. What would you do?
One instructor told us she would immediately dismiss class and tell the students to leave.
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, that sounds reasonable to us.
If you were a student in that class, would you stick around? We wouldn't.
That's why the university's policy prohibiting even students with concealed-carry permits from packing in plain view makes sense. Guns on the hips of people other than uniformed cops naturally make other people nervous. It's tough to concentrate on a lecture or class discussion when the kid on the next row is openly packing heat.
Debates in class sometimes become heated. An instructor cannot be expected to teach knowing that someone in the class might pop off with something more than a snarky comment.
The students who want to slap a sidearm on their hip should understand that, but apparently some don't. One told a Tribune reporter that others should not view an openly carried handgun as a menace. "I would hope that if someone sees a gun, they would come to the rational conclusion that if this person is intent to do harm, he wouldn't be carrying a gun for everyone to see."
Maybe. Maybe not. If the person carrying a gun is a stranger, how can you automatically assume he is law-abiding and has no malicious intent? That's why cops wear uniforms and carry badges, to allay that very concern.
In the same breath, some of these gun-rights students argue that no one other than a peace officer should be able to question them about why they are carrying a gun. Now who's being unreasonable?
The U. should stick to its guns. No open carry on campus, with the exception of peace officers and ROTC students in uniform.
