- Joined
- May 5, 2006
- Messages
- 1,777
imported post
At http://virginianewssource.com/VNS/campus_massacres.html
*************************************************************
OpenCarry.org Press Release - February 15th, 2008
*************************************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*************************************************************
NIU Murders Illustrate The Dangers of Victim-Disarmament Zones
---------------------------------------------------------------------
On February 14th, while most Americans were celebrating Valentines Day, a predator was murdering helpless victims on the campus of Northern Illinois University.(1) Had there been even one legally armed professor, staff-member or student present, this tragedy might have been prevented. But this was not possible since Illinois is one of only two remaining states which completely denies its citizens the right to carry a concealed handguns for self-defense.(2) Additionally, employees and adult students at the other 48 states’ colleges and universities are often denied their self defense rights under threat of administrative sanction such as was the case at Virginia Tech.(3)
After the tragedy at Virginia Tech, gun-control advocates assured us that even more gun-control would guarantee that such an event could never happen again. But the Valentines Day attack at NIU occurred in Illinois which already has some of the most restrictive gun control policies in the nation. Clearly the disturbed predators who commit these crimes care nothing for the law. They have seen the infamy that is to be gained by committing these atrocities and carefully plan their attacks to take place in a venue where they are guaranteed to meet no resistance.
This makes the second such attack in as many weeks and in both, the pattern remains constant - a crazed predator with a desire for infamy, defenseless victims, ending with suicide for the attacker.(4) Given that they have decided to die alongside their victims, neither laws not punishment will stop them and as everyone knows, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away!
The only sound public policy that consistently provides for the public safety is to ban Victim-Disarmament Zones. To that end, we applaud the South Dakota legislature for, in the immediate wake of the NIU murders, moving full speed ahead to follow Utah’s lead and preempt state colleges from banning otherwise lawful student gun carry.(5)
The facts can no longer be denied; gun control and the policies of victim disarmament enable these crazed killers to leisurely pursue their twisted goals. Simple logic dictates that these types of attacks will continue to occur as long as the predators can be assured of defenseless victims. OpenCarry.org demands that those who create these victim-disarmament zones be held accountable for the clearly foreseeable failure of their policies.
How much blood must be on the hands of victim-disarmament advocates before they will admit that their morally bankrupt policies do nothing more than set the stage for future attacks?
##########################
Contact anytime on gun stories:
John Pierce/Mike Stollenwerk
http://www.OpenCarry.org
A national pro-gun Internet community with more than 3,900 registered members
News media reports citing OpenCarry.org's perspective: http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum63
##########################
FOOTNOTES
---------------
1) 6 dead in NIU shooting; 4 identified; Ex-graduate student slays 5 before killing himself, Chicago Tribune, Feb. 15, 2008, available at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-niu-gunman_webfeb15,0,1760508.story
2) The other is Wisconsin, however one court recently held that a self-defense purpose was a state constitutional defense to illegally carrying concealed. See Derrick Nunnally, Driver's gun charge tossed; Judge finds prosecution of delivery man unconstitutional, Journal Sentinel, Sept. 24, 2007, , available at http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=666506
3) According to the National Council of State Legislatures, only 16 states generally ban gun carry on campus as a matter of state criminal law. But only Utah explicitly preempts state colleges from enforcing rules against campus gun carry by students. The Virginia Attorney General has opined that state college rules against campus gun carry, even if applicable to students at that school as an administrative matter, may not be enforced against members of the general public, including students from other colleges. See Op. Atty. Gen, no. 05-078 (Va. 2006), available at http://www.vcdl.org/pdf/OP-05-078.pdf
4) The first was at Louisiana Technical College. See 3 Dead in Shooting at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge, Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 8, 2008, available at http://chronicle.com/news/article/3904/3-dead-in-shooting-at-louisiana-technical-college-in-baton-rouge
5) See South Dakota Right-to-Carry Reform Smoked Out!, National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Feb. 14, 2008, available at http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=3502
At http://virginianewssource.com/VNS/campus_massacres.html
*************************************************************
OpenCarry.org Press Release - February 15th, 2008
*************************************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*************************************************************
NIU Murders Illustrate The Dangers of Victim-Disarmament Zones
---------------------------------------------------------------------
On February 14th, while most Americans were celebrating Valentines Day, a predator was murdering helpless victims on the campus of Northern Illinois University.(1) Had there been even one legally armed professor, staff-member or student present, this tragedy might have been prevented. But this was not possible since Illinois is one of only two remaining states which completely denies its citizens the right to carry a concealed handguns for self-defense.(2) Additionally, employees and adult students at the other 48 states’ colleges and universities are often denied their self defense rights under threat of administrative sanction such as was the case at Virginia Tech.(3)
After the tragedy at Virginia Tech, gun-control advocates assured us that even more gun-control would guarantee that such an event could never happen again. But the Valentines Day attack at NIU occurred in Illinois which already has some of the most restrictive gun control policies in the nation. Clearly the disturbed predators who commit these crimes care nothing for the law. They have seen the infamy that is to be gained by committing these atrocities and carefully plan their attacks to take place in a venue where they are guaranteed to meet no resistance.
This makes the second such attack in as many weeks and in both, the pattern remains constant - a crazed predator with a desire for infamy, defenseless victims, ending with suicide for the attacker.(4) Given that they have decided to die alongside their victims, neither laws not punishment will stop them and as everyone knows, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away!
The only sound public policy that consistently provides for the public safety is to ban Victim-Disarmament Zones. To that end, we applaud the South Dakota legislature for, in the immediate wake of the NIU murders, moving full speed ahead to follow Utah’s lead and preempt state colleges from banning otherwise lawful student gun carry.(5)
The facts can no longer be denied; gun control and the policies of victim disarmament enable these crazed killers to leisurely pursue their twisted goals. Simple logic dictates that these types of attacks will continue to occur as long as the predators can be assured of defenseless victims. OpenCarry.org demands that those who create these victim-disarmament zones be held accountable for the clearly foreseeable failure of their policies.
How much blood must be on the hands of victim-disarmament advocates before they will admit that their morally bankrupt policies do nothing more than set the stage for future attacks?
##########################
Contact anytime on gun stories:
John Pierce/Mike Stollenwerk
http://www.OpenCarry.org
A national pro-gun Internet community with more than 3,900 registered members
News media reports citing OpenCarry.org's perspective: http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum63
##########################
FOOTNOTES
---------------
1) 6 dead in NIU shooting; 4 identified; Ex-graduate student slays 5 before killing himself, Chicago Tribune, Feb. 15, 2008, available at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-niu-gunman_webfeb15,0,1760508.story
2) The other is Wisconsin, however one court recently held that a self-defense purpose was a state constitutional defense to illegally carrying concealed. See Derrick Nunnally, Driver's gun charge tossed; Judge finds prosecution of delivery man unconstitutional, Journal Sentinel, Sept. 24, 2007, , available at http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=666506
3) According to the National Council of State Legislatures, only 16 states generally ban gun carry on campus as a matter of state criminal law. But only Utah explicitly preempts state colleges from enforcing rules against campus gun carry by students. The Virginia Attorney General has opined that state college rules against campus gun carry, even if applicable to students at that school as an administrative matter, may not be enforced against members of the general public, including students from other colleges. See Op. Atty. Gen, no. 05-078 (Va. 2006), available at http://www.vcdl.org/pdf/OP-05-078.pdf
4) The first was at Louisiana Technical College. See 3 Dead in Shooting at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge, Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 8, 2008, available at http://chronicle.com/news/article/3904/3-dead-in-shooting-at-louisiana-technical-college-in-baton-rouge
5) See South Dakota Right-to-Carry Reform Smoked Out!, National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Feb. 14, 2008, available at http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=3502