college campus CCW protest

[Player]

there's a CCW protest nationwide concerning the rights to carry on campus... students are wearing an empty holster on campus to protest the fact that we can't carry in these school zones...


dont' take me wrong, i think ccw on campus is a good thing, i think letting it legal doesn't mean everyone's going to carry.. and that it would GREATLY reduce crime and most importantly, it WILL save lives


but here's the thing, i dont' think this protest is diplomatically smart at all. I think you've gotta look from the opposition's point of view.
The reason why there are such a certain amount of people opposing the presence of firearms is because they feel that firearms are a threat to the society, that college students eager to carry=slaughter

and let's back up a second, how would an empty holster help improve that idea? foreigners all see americans who like guns as backwoods hillbillies. gun-ban supporters view these firearms as an immediate threat. wearing an empty holster, seeming to them like you're simulating a CCW campus... wouldn't this just make them feel a lot more threatened?

in my opinion, everything comes down to eduction on the firearm. the phrase "guns don't kill, people do" has been ridiculed so much it's a waste arguing sometimes. showing what you believe is good, it's right and it's most definately what we should all do... but i think we really should consider what the other side thinks and how the other side would perceive the message before we throw it out there.



that's just my $.02, what do you guys think?

[Woodman in MO]

Maybe it will open their eyes. Perhaps that person who they have been sitting next to all semester shows up one day with an empty holster and they think to themselves that this person is a good guy, he's smart and we get along, maybe 'gun guys' aren't so bad....

It's a protest, it is suppose to open people's eyes. It is suppose to make them uncomfortable, not about what they see, but what they think...and how maybe they are wrong...

[ctdemolay0405]

i agree with you henry. its best people dont know when other's are carrying, it doesnt make people concerned and suspicious

[Phirebug]

i kind of agree with both of you. i don't think that's really a good way to protest, but i'm glad that somebody is speaking publicly about this (and that the media is not vilifying them for it) i think it does us all good when people realize that:
1)the 2nd amendment is for everybody, not just hunters and "gun nuts"
2)concealed carry is a good idea
3)it's not just a good idea for other people

there was a thing on the nra web site about a gallup poll that was done recently that showed that support for gun contol is declining amongst every demographic they polled...regardless of age, gender, or race, people all across the nation are less supportive of gun control than they used to be. i see this as a very positive thing.

[renegade]

Concealed Carry, is exactly that, advertising (publically, I might add) that one wants to carry, is somewhat an oxymoronic thing to do IMHO.

I do believe in the right to CC, however, to me, with that right comes a significant amount of responsibility, with responsibility come the ability to accept the consequences of one's action, and the after effects of such. Even if a given situation turns out right (by the law), the fact is, one may have to live with the taking of another's life. To me, there is a frenzy to carry, so I agree with a demonstration being the wrong approach.

Personally, if I had a CC permit, I would not advertise the fact, likewise, if I didn't I would not advertise the fact. I think this should be a voted choice that needs to be handled with discretion.

I guess the key is, handling the desire to carry on a college campus, would be to show the maturity it takes to carry, face it, just because someone is old enough to carry, does not make them 'mature' enough to carry. You thoughts are probably the exception, not the rule.

[renegade]

As a follow up, just for the record, I was a college student, I was once that idealistic student that wanted change yesterday, and did not have the patience to wait and do it properly. Having said that, I still believe today, that my intentions were good, but (I don't mean I have any regrets), if I knew then, what I know now, there would be several things I would've handled differently. So, I also believe that youth can only be tempered by age and experience, and most will have to try for themselves, that's how experience is accumulated. I have been out of college for nearly 30 years.

[KMURPHY]

well...on my campus, we can have "i just got robbed at gunpoint t-shirts" for the victims. see other thread for details