Empty Holsters A Growing Silent Protest
I guess the college “masses” aren’t all ‘heads-full of mush’. This seems to be a growing protest trend of an exercise in REAL rights being carried out by our young adults on colleges across the nation.
Wanna guess WHY …
College students hope to extend concealed-carry rights to campus
Students at college campuses across the Carolinas and the nation are wearing empty gun holsters to class this week to support the legalization of concealed weapons by licensed carriers at school.
Under North Carolina law, it is a felony to bring any firearm onto school property.
David Dunn, UNC Charlotte vice chancellor for university relations and community affairs, said there is no talk of changing the statute.
Protestors say they want to be able to protect themselves should something like the Virginia Tech mass shooting happen again.
UNC Charlotte protest organizer Jennifer Solesby, 27, said the reaction to the empty black holster hanging from her hip has been minimal.
“I’ve gotten some weird looks, but they are mostly `I don’t know what that is’ looks,” she said.
Since there is no group demonstration, she could not say how many students have joined her. About 12 people attended an informational meeting last week.
Still, the idea of guns on campus made some students nervous.
“I don’t feel comfortable with it,” said Matt Chaney, 24, a UNCC student from Monroe. “I can see their argument, but it would bring more potential harm than anything positive.”
This is the second nationwide protest by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a group that got its start on a social-networking Web site. The group debuted on Facebook.com on April 17, 2007, one day after Virginia Tech shootings, said media liaison Jason Blatt, 23, a medical student at UNC Chapel Hill.
The group lists more than 28,000 members on Facebook, where it describes its mission as supporting “the legalization of concealed carry by licensed individuals on college campuses.”
“We’re not necessarily talking about stopping mass shootings,” Blatt said. “We’re not saying (having concealed weapons on campus) would have prevented it, but it would have leveled the playing field.”
Other Carolinas schools participating are Lenior-Rhyne, East Carolina, Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College, Elon University School of Law, UNC Wilmington, N.C. State, Appalachian State, UNC Chapel Hill, Clemson and the Citadel.
UNC Charlotte officials said they do not support carrying guns on campus.
“It is not a good idea for students to have weapons of any sort on campus,” UNCC’s Dunn said.
But some said the constitutional right to bear arms should supersede the setting.
“I don’t like guns, to be honest with you,” said student Ed Pardue, 33, of Charlotte. “But if they have a concealed-carry permit, they should be able to carry anywhere.”
Solesby and school officials worked out guidelines for the protest. Participants had to give their teachers a heads-up at the start of class if they wore a holster.
(Charlotte Observ)
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Wow, I had my Enfield .303 in my room at UMaine in my fraternity. I guess I could have gotten in trouble. Others had shotguns and deer rifles, wasn’t a big deal to us back in the 80’s. We were rural enough and would go out in the woods to go shooting at quarries and logging areas. Nobody I knew would have considered going on a rampage.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:21 amYup, we have at least 200 students here participating in this protest.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:12 amHopefully this protest is a wake up call to state legislatures to re-evaluate their regulations for concealed-carry permits and expand them to allow concealed firearms on college campuses.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:54 am