You know the drill. Anti-gun laws are about to be rolled back. Gun control agitators predict blood in the streets. Human sacrifice. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria! The left-leaning media takes the fear and runs with it. And then . . . nothing. Oh yeah, life goes on. Long after the thrill of gun grabbing is gone. Case in point: the New York Times Education section article University Is Uneasy as Court Ruling Allows Guns on Campus . . .
Right. The entirety of the University of Colorado—from the cafeteria staff to the most learned professors—are experiencing high anxiety. Well, actually, it’s just the eggheads who can’t feel the fear and breed liberals anyway.
Nervous nellies like 19-years-and-counting-in-the-same-job-you-can’t-get-rid-of-her-unless-she-sleeps-with-a-student-and-probably-not-even-then Berklee grad and English teacher Karen Jacobs [above].
Ever since a State Supreme Court ruling in March forced the university to allow those with Colorado concealed weapon permits to carry their guns on campus, Ms. Jacobs and other faculty members have found themselves increasingly uneasy.
“This is a place where we depend on being able to speak our minds and offer sometimes controversial opinions in a free and open place,” she said. “The feeling among a percentage of faculty is that this will create a climate of fear and intimidation.”
I love it when English teachers trot out fuzzy math to support their position. Or not. And what anti-gun argument is complete without valuing feelings over facts? None.
Thankfully, the NYT does provide some useful numbers in their useless recap of the University of Colorado teachers’ reluctance to respect State and Federal law (e.g., the Second Amendment protections guaranteed by the United States Constitution).
Some 21 states have an outright ban on concealed weapons on campuses, according to data compiled last month by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Two dozen states leave it up to individual universities and colleges to decide.
Five states — Oregon, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Utah and Colorado — now have provisions permitting the carrying of concealed weapons on campuses, the group said.
OK, back to feelings.
In the wake of the ruling, university officials have sought to soothe faculty fears, recently creating a policy that requires students who want to bring their firearms on campus to live in separate graduate student apartments and cottages . . .
The university has continued to ban guns at ticketed athletic and cultural events.
But that has not quieted the nervousness among faculty members. This month, the University of Colorado Boulder provost, Russell Moore, convened a widely attended town hall meeting to address the issue.
“What was explained to the faculty was first of all, we understand what you’re saying, your fears, your concerns and your doubts,” Mr. Hilliard said. “But just being concerned about the situation doesn’t allow any faculty member to simply cancel class or refuse to teach someone because of the mere concern that somebody is exercising their concealed carry rights in the classroom.”
Touchy feely this:
“The classroom is a place where judgment is levied upon individuals, not unlike a court of law,” said Noah Molotch, an assistant professor of geography. “You interject a firearm and there’s potential for a confrontation.”
Fear is the mind killer, eh?