Mikee Loxxer
Member
Swordsmen make a point on campus
Axel Arth has a point to make about the concealed weapons law. And he figured this stunt -- carrying a stage sword around campus -- was absurd enough that more people would ask him about it.
BY COLLEEN KENNEY | Lincoln Journal Star
This is weird, Axel Arth says:
About half of the other students walking by him on campus don’t seem to notice the long sword at his side, swinging from a belt loop of his jeans.
But this is even weirder:
About half see it but look away, like they shouldn’t make eye contact with a crazy guy with a sword, and only two people have asked him about it.
He has a point to make.
And he figured this stunt was absurd enough that more people would ask him about it.
Tuesday, the 18-year-old walked through UNL’s Love Library with the sword, a medieval-looking model like the kind used in the Crusades.
He walked through Selleck Dining Room. He stood outside the union. He walked into his clothing and human behavior class and set it on his desk. Even the teacher walked by without a word.
If they’d have asked, he’d have told them how he and four other guys are carrying swords around campus this week to protest the state’s new concealed-weapon law, which the governor signed last week.
He’d have told them how he thinks it’s unsafe and could lead to a shoot-first mentality. He’d have told them it’s too late for the state, because the bill is already signed, but maybe the city could ban concealed weapons.
He’d have told them that getting shot in Iraq and getting shot in his hometown are the same to him.
“It’s going to get me just as dead.”
Axel is a freshman performance major. He and the other guys borrowed the swords from the professor who teaches stage fighting — after checking with university rules to see if it’d be OK. The swords are blunt.
Being an actor has eliminated his sense of shame. He can do anything in public. But he knew better than to walk around campus carrying a stage gun.
“A toy gun in my pocket could end really badly.”
Axel Arth has a point to make about the concealed weapons law. And he figured this stunt -- carrying a stage sword around campus -- was absurd enough that more people would ask him about it.
BY COLLEEN KENNEY | Lincoln Journal Star
This is weird, Axel Arth says:
About half of the other students walking by him on campus don’t seem to notice the long sword at his side, swinging from a belt loop of his jeans.
But this is even weirder:
About half see it but look away, like they shouldn’t make eye contact with a crazy guy with a sword, and only two people have asked him about it.
He has a point to make.
And he figured this stunt was absurd enough that more people would ask him about it.
Tuesday, the 18-year-old walked through UNL’s Love Library with the sword, a medieval-looking model like the kind used in the Crusades.
He walked through Selleck Dining Room. He stood outside the union. He walked into his clothing and human behavior class and set it on his desk. Even the teacher walked by without a word.
If they’d have asked, he’d have told them how he and four other guys are carrying swords around campus this week to protest the state’s new concealed-weapon law, which the governor signed last week.
He’d have told them how he thinks it’s unsafe and could lead to a shoot-first mentality. He’d have told them it’s too late for the state, because the bill is already signed, but maybe the city could ban concealed weapons.
He’d have told them that getting shot in Iraq and getting shot in his hometown are the same to him.
“It’s going to get me just as dead.”
Axel is a freshman performance major. He and the other guys borrowed the swords from the professor who teaches stage fighting — after checking with university rules to see if it’d be OK. The swords are blunt.
Being an actor has eliminated his sense of shame. He can do anything in public. But he knew better than to walk around campus carrying a stage gun.
“A toy gun in my pocket could end really badly.”
