A TTAG reader writes:
Our campus police have been trying for years to get patrol rifles for when they’re needed. Locked up until the specific order is given. The VPs opened the whole thing up for discussion to the campus. The hippie profs and their hippie students pouted/screamed until the admin backed down. They claimed that the cops were going to actually patrol with rifles, and students would certainly be shot. Meanwhile, there’s a GFZ [Gun Free Zone] with limited police on duty. AND as everyone says “it can’t happen here.” Yes but it HAS happened here. There was a targeted killing of an ex-GF. Walked in, shot her twice, walked out.
Photo is of Oklahoma State University – Largest Student union in the world.
http://www.bestcollegereviews.org/features/most-amazing-campus-student-unions/
Oh goody….more of my taxpayer dollars underwriting campuses that are trying to make themselves look like vacation resorts.
Oil money has more to do with it than taxes.
Try again.
The runaway growth and inflation in universities is driven by easy loan money.
What investor would loan money to someone to get a doctorate in “feminist studies”?
The only way that happens is that the loan is guaranteed by the government (my tax dollars).
$1Trillion debt bomb….
http://www.cnbc.com/id/48148304
Personally, I welcome the day that the current “higher education” model crashes.
Nice rant, but T. Boone Pickens himself has donated well over $100 million to OSU.
Not sure where OU stands in the grand scheme of things, but universities do prefer to have their buildings donated to them, and are pretty good about finding donors to make it happen.
doesky2 is correct.
The 100MM of Pickens in nothing/basis points compared to student loan debt in the trillions.
It is a clear bubble in a societal sacred cow.
Never fear, they recently approved a new, record high budget of 1.3 billion!
… 5% tuition hikes included.
As an OSU grad that spent plenty of time in the student union I can tell you it was no resort. Big, sure, but heavily utilized. There used to be a ton of office space, cafeteria, bank, book store, copy supply store, post office, meeting spaces, an auditorium, etc. There is a hotel attached, but it’s run by the hospitality school.
If you have an ‘active shooter’ situation, should you rush straight to the scene in hopes of stopping it in progress, or rush to the armory to check out a rifle in hopes of shooting the killer after he’s done, without getting within pistol range of him?
I guess the answer depends on who the campus police are supposed to be protecting.
Part of the issue-as a vet reentering the college scene- is that a lot of modern day members of the college faculty and student body are foreigners.
No I’m not going on some diatribe about “dem furriners takin’ up jawbs”. While a diverse campus on balance is a good thing, one side effect is the international folks bring their anti-gun culture with them.
When most of your campus is composed of and run by people from countries where guns are no-joke illegal unless you’re in a gang or police (frequently both at the same time) , good luck getting pro gun policy enacted. The Second Amendment reads to those folks like Sharia law.
Some kind of cultural RKBA outreach is needed , and its a big enough challenge that we’d need a ground up outreach nonprofit to hit all the major points. If we don’t find a way to make the RKBA relevant to the nation’s immigrants,hipsters and minorities well look just like England inside of a decade.
+10 to this
Some of the most pro-gun foreigners I’ve met have been from strongly anti-gun countries like India and China. They’ve seen first hand what it means to be unarmed. The most anti-gun foreigners I’ve met have all been from Canada, which has more respect for gun rights than most of the world.
I know I post a lot of goofy video responses, but this Chinese’s perspective is both apropos your comment and spot on:
I always liked guns. But I really became a gun nut after living in NY/CT for 4 years and MA for 3 years. That did it.
Invite them to an afternoon at the range.
+ 1,000. “Cultural outreach,” WTF? All that’s going to do is freak people out when they feel like a token, symbolic idol for the gun-rights cause and nothing more. When I take newbies shooting I keep politics totally absent unless they bring it up, and even then I tread lightly at first. My goal is to make sure my guests have as much fun as possible in a safe and relaxing environment. I let their own positive experiences obliterate their preconceived notions about guns instead of trying to convince them myself. When they come around and learn to appreciate the 2nd Amendment on their own, they’re much more vocal about defending it, especially after buying their first gun. This strategy takes a lot more time and hand-holding, but vouching from personal experience, it works.
And that is 100% why amnesty-granted illegals will be a boon to the Democraps: Most foreigners — especially those fleeing oppressive conditions — have absolutely no concept of what it’s like to live freely. Give them a bit of economic bump, and allow them to piss and moan in the streets without the secret police snatching them away in the night, and they think they’re on top of the world. “‘Keep and bear’? What’s that?”
Get enough illegals in here voting, an the Bill of Rights will be a faint memory in two generations, tops.
One more reason that I’d consider studying in a state that allows campus carry.
ARMED campus security? The guys at my school were glorified meter maids, water pistol would be more appropriate.
If you need armed cops on the campus why would that be? And if so why not just use the city popo or sheriff or highway patrol. The nonsense of the separate “Ivory Tower” of learnin died with the streetcar. It’s more empire building where need another layer of overpriced taxpayer/student financed fluff (see also campus powerplant, rec center, “health” center. The “security”/cops NEED (want) AR? How about a Barrett? Then need M203. An MRAP? All kinds of black ninja jammies.
If the campus security dude wants to be a real cop, and are qualified, then go be a real cop. Same point for the cop who wants to be an 11B Grunt, man up and raise the right hand and do it for real.
Great article. Well-articulated premise, lots of verifiable details, and a clear purpose. Not once was I left wondering “Why was this published?”
No, wait. The opposite of all that.
I strongly support your position. I want legal concealed carry on every campus in the USA. I also think we should find some way to allow underclassmen (ages 18 to 20) to carry also. Seniors are not the only ones who are victims of violent crimes on college campuses,
However, I need to point out that the on-campus murder you mentioned does not support your position, and actually hurts it a bit. No one could have stopped that murder, except the ex-girlfriend, and she would have to do it long before he walked into her office/classroom on campus. Even if she were armed, she probably could not have seen his gun soon enough to shoot back. Then once she was dead, it would be illegal for anyone to use a firearm to stop him from leaving (except police or campus security), because he left without threatening any other person. One could not claim self-defense if they shot him while he was leaving peacefully.
“One could not claim self-defense if they shot him while he was leaving peacefully.”
Not necessarily so. If I saw a man enter the room and shoot or attempt to shoot somebody else without any immediate conflict, I’m not going to automatically assume that the shooter is going to stop there. Particularly if I don’t know the person. So self defense is still very much applicable here.