JackCentral

In the wake of the recent shootings at Northern Illinois University, Virginia Tech and other campuses across America, legislators on the Arizona Senate Judiciary committee took action. They passed a bill sponsored by Sen. Karen Johnson (R) that would allow college students and faculty with concealed weapons permits to carry their firearms on campus. The original proposal would have allowed guns to be carried in all schools at all grade levels; however, Republicans didn’t think it would pass without grade-level criteria limits. Sen. Johnson commented in the Arizona Republic, “… I still feel our little kindergartners are sitting there [like] sitting ducks.”
I applaud Sen. Johnson for allowing students to take their safety into their own hands. Most of us are very tired of being treated like irresponsible babies and would like some of our rights back.
Between 2007 and 2008, there have been 49 deaths as a result of shootings on “gun-free” college campuses. That’s a jump from just three in 2006. The phrase “gun free” seems to translate into “open season” for the deranged and psychopathic. Mass murderers tend to travel down the path of least resistance, so if a shooter knows that a certain place such as a college campus isn’t going to put up any real opposition, it’s a more likely target.
In Jerusalem last week, a gunman killed eight students in a Seminary library before he was shot and killed by an Israeli student and an off-duty Army officer. The student had quite accurately shot the gunman twice in the head without any collateral damage before the Army officer finished him off with a rifle.
This is America, land of the free and home of the brave. If a seminary student in Israel can be responsible enough to carry his gun to school and then put it to use, killing a fanatic lunatic and saving the lives of his fellow students, why can’t American college students display the same heroics?
I’ve heard talk about the Cold War-style fear that would resonate on campuses across America if students were allowed to bring their guns to classrooms. I’m sorry, but I’m already scared. Worse yet, I’m scared and there’s nothing anyone or myself can do about it. That is, unless of course, a law passes allowing Arizona college students to have the same rights as their counterparts who don’t attend college — in which case my safety can be returned to my hands where it belongs.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 6:48 pm and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.