Purdue University paper article on campus concealed carry

[The Wiry Irishman]

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Article Text:

Issue raises questions in wake of tragedies
By Nadine Mahasneh

Assistant Campus Editor

Publication Date: 02/28/2008


In the aftermath of the shootings on the Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech universities, gun control laws on campuses are being reconsidered by many states.

In the aftermath of the shootings on the Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech universities, gun control laws on campuses are being reconsidered by many states.

Purdue's position on gun control allows only law enforcement officers to carry firearms on campus.

But, according to an article published by USA Today, 12 states have been considering bills that would allow people to carry concealed weapons on public university campuses.

The Indiana Senate voted on a bill that would allow people with permits to carry handguns on state property, except in specific places such as airports. The bill did not pass.

Jeanne Norberg, Purdue spokeswoman, said there has been no discussion by the University on changing the policy and it isn't unusual to prohibit guns in places such as hospitals, schools, universities and airports.

"The University believes this is in the safest course," Norberg said. "This also is the position of the vast majority of universities across the country."

Although firearms are not allowed on campus, Capt. John Cox of Purdue Police said it is difficult to enforce the University's policy constantly.

"We're a public university, so that means people are free to come and go," said Cox. "It makes it difficult for us to monitor."

One student thinks carrying a concealed weapon on campus could be beneficial, especially in tragic events such as what happened at Virginia Tech and NIU.

"Mainly, the thing is, there is no way you can predict instances with gunmen coming on campus; text messaging isn't going to do anything good," said Dan Lindsay, a senior in the College of Consumer and Family Sciences. "By enabling students who are trained and certified to carry guns on campus, you provide students with an additional safety measure."

Another student has a different point of view on gun control on a university's campus.

"I don't think it's a good idea because not everyone's had training in firearms," said Zach Ramey, a junior in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. "Just because they are legally able to hold a gun doesn't make them a good marksman.

"Instead of having one person shooting, you could have a small war zone going on, and who knows how many people would get shot?"

Although guns are prohibited on Purdue's campus, purchasing one is a different issue.

Lester Wolfe, owner of Lafayette Guns and Gear, said there are specific requirements in purchasing a gun in Indiana.

"To buy a long gun, you have to be 18 years of age and a resident of Indiana," he said, "and you have to pass a federal background check."

Purchasing a handgun has similar requirements, but the required age is 21 years.

Wolfe said that if a person is a criminal, it is hard to purchase a gun legally at a gun store.

"The federal background check form is filled by the applicant and we get proof, then we call the FBI to get the federal background check," he said.

Gun control is starting to become a hotbutton issue here at Purdue, especially in our student newspaper, the Exponent. In fact, there have been four recent THR threads about the paper's anti-gun shenanigans.

I'd like to ask THR member to flood the Exponent with as much polite, reasonable pro-gun feedback as possible. Email the articles authors, Purdue administration, etc. If you see somebody in an article you want to talk to, run their name through Purdue's online directory and you can probably get their email address.

Don't just email though. A great deal can be accomplished by writing opinions responses to the paper. They have to be under 300 words and can be submitted online. You don't have to be a Purdue student or even an Indiana resident to be published. The Exponent has a policy of only running 10 letters on a particular topic, and if we can flood them with pro-gun letters, we can keep anti-gun letters to a minimum.

Personally, I believe that 300 words is not anywhere near enough to express an intelligent, well-supported opinion, so I'm currently trying to take advantage of the Exponents guest columnist feature to get a longer, more in-depth response published.

 

[kludge]

"Instead of having one person shooting, you could have a small war zone going on, and who knows how many people would get shot?"

Well, 32 by one count.

 

[highorder]

why do the pro-CCW people always sound educated, logical, and positive, while the anti-CCW people usually sound emotional, uninformed, and frightened?