College Honchos Want Campi To Remain Murder Holes

College presidents rally against concealed weapons bill

The following is typical liberal bullswaddle.

Namely the fact that the average person simply CANNOT be trusted to walk and chew gum at the same time let alone possess a filthy old firearm.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Some state lawmakers believe that putting more guns on college and university campuses will make them safer from the kinds of gunmen who have taken the lives of dozens of people at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University over the past year.

But college presidents in Oklahoma think the Legislature has been too quick on the trigger with legislation that would authorize members of the military, veterans and others with specialized firearms training who hold a valid concealed weapons license to carry concealed weapons on college and university campuses.

The Council of Presidents, composed of the presidents of the state's 25 public colleges and universities, unanimously passed a resolution earlier this month opposing the bill, which is supported by the National Rifle Association and received bipartisan support in the state House.

Ironically, college presidents say they oppose it for the same reason supporters say they like it - campus safety.

"This bill will not result in our campuses being safer. It has the potential to cause some frightening consequences," said Cindy Ross, president of Cameron University in Lawton who chairs the Council of Presidents.

A resolution adopted by the council states the measure would allow a potentially dangerous mix of guns and students, create a significant risk of a gun misfiring and increase liability issues for colleges.

"From my perspective, the solution is not more guns," Ross said.

"I'm very much in opposition to the bill," said Janet Cunningham, president of Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva. "I really do not see it making the campus any safer; actually the opposite."

The bill, which is pending in the state Senate, is a response to a spate of campus shootings across the nation.

Last year, a gunman with a long history of mental illness killed 32 students and faculty members at Virginia Tech before taking his own life. Just last month, five students were killed by a gunman at a campus lecture hall at Northern Illinois.

Incidents like that have convinced University of Oklahoma senior Heath Flowers that students, faculty members and others on college campuses have a duty to protect themselves by packing concealed weapons in the classroom.

"Universities put a sign on the door that says gun-free zone. Criminals don't pay attention to those. There hell-bent on killing," said Flowers, 23, a member of the nonpartisan Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and one of more than 60,000 Oklahomans who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Formed following the Virginia Tech shootings in April, the concealed carry organization's Web site claims it has more than 21,000 members nationwide who believe a concealed handgun license holder should have the right to carry concealed handguns on college campuses.

"If I'm in a classroom and some deranged killer who doesn't care it's a gun-free zone comes in, my life is over," Flowers said. "If I ever get in a situation like that, I need to be able to defend myself."

Flowers, whose major is management information systems and energy management, said he believes OU's main campus in Norman is safe. But there are only three to five armed police officer on duty at any given time to respond to a possible campus shooting, he said.

"I'll be dead by then," he said.

OU President David Boren, like other college presidents in Oklahoma, believes arming students, faculty and staff on college campuses is not the way to make them safer.

"While I strongly support the rights of our citizens to keep and bear firearms under the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution, allowing guns on college campuses would endanger the safety of our students, faculty, and staff," Boren said in a statement.

"To allow other people to have guns who have not trained with our police units would create chaos in a crisis situation," Boren said. "Police would not be able to sort out dangerous gunmen from others on campus with guns."

In addition, Boren said it would interfere with the university's ability to recruit students and faculty who may consider the campus as an unsafe environment.

"Current law protects the constitutional rights of our people but it wisely bans guns from schools and colleges," Boren said. "We should stick to the laws that have worked so well and allow our colleges to continue to improve safety on their campuses."

The Faculty Council of Oklahoma State University last week adopted a resolution opposing the measure because of the increased danger additional weapons would create on OSU campuses.

"OSU is one of the safest schools in the Big 12 and the safety of students, employees and visitors has always been our top priority," the school said in a statement. "We strongly believe that any changes in law that will increase the number of firearms on our campuses will make our campuses less safe."

So lets see; Cindy, Janet, and a guy named Flowers.

Shame that women have to act so bloody stupid when they get scared.