Update:
ABC News reports that the Idaho State Affairs Committee has voted 11-3, in a party line split, for the bill and sent it forward to the House floor, over objections from the majority of people who testified before the committee.
“Backers of the bill say letting those with Idaho’s new enhanced concealed carry permit holders to carry guns to class could halt a would-be mass shooter. But others say a loophole in the bill will allow those permit holders to openly wield firearms anywhere on campus — including in dormitories and at football games.”
The next item for debate for the full House may be how to answer professor Hampikian’s question.
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Original post:
As I am writing this, the Idaho State Affairs Committee is scheduled to consider a bill to allow guns on campuses. “People are crowded into the Idaho Statehouse’s Lincoln Auditorium, waiting to testify before the House State Affairs Committee about a bill that would allow students, staff and others to carry guns on college campuses,” says the Charlotte Observer.
The Observer:
Presidents of all eight public universities and multiple police chiefs oppose the bill, and more than 200 people protested against it on the Capitol steps Thursday.
Republican Sen. Curt McKenzie of Nampa, who is the bill’s sponsor, said Friday morning that he was surprised by the extent of the opposition. He said he addressed all the concerns from universities and colleges that sank a previous version of the bill in 2011.
McKenzie’s bill passed the Senate 25-10 earlier this month.
The committee is poised to vote whether to send it forward to the House floor for debate.
I don’t know if Professor Greg Hampikian is one of those present at the Lincoln Auditorium, but the professor certainly has made his feelings known in a unique and powerful letter addressed to the chief counsel of the Idaho State Legislature, published in the New York Times today. Since the Idaho State Legislature is considering allowing students and staff to pack heat on campus, the professor asks a perfectly reasonable and practical question: “When may I shoot a student?”
I hope our readers can access the entire letter here, but just in case here are some of the most interesting parts. Remember satire can be very powerful.
BOISE, Idaho — TO the chief counsel of the Idaho State Legislature:
In light of the bill permitting guns on our state’s college and university campuses, which is likely to be approved by the state House of Representatives in the coming days, I have a matter of practical concern that I hope you can help with: When may I shoot a student?
I am a biology professor, not a lawyer, and I had never considered bringing a gun to work until now. But since many of my students are likely to be armed, I thought it would be a good idea to even the playing field.
I have had encounters with disgruntled students over the years, some of whom seemed quite upset, but I always assumed that when they reached into their backpacks they were going for a pencil. Since I carry a pen to lecture, I did not feel outgunned; and because there are no working sharpeners in the lecture hall, the most they could get off is a single point. But now that we’ll all be packing heat, I would like legal instruction in the rules of classroom engagement.
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I assume that if a student shoots first, I am allowed to empty my clip; but given the velocity of firearms, and my aging reflexes, I’d like to be proactive. For example, if I am working out a long equation on the board and several students try to correct me using their laser sights, am I allowed to fire a warning shot?
If two armed students are arguing over who should be served next at the coffee bar and I sense escalating hostility, should I aim for the legs and remind them of the campus Shared-Values Statement (which reads, in part, “Boise State strives to provide a culture of civility and success where all feel safe and free from discrimination, harassment, threats or intimidation”)?
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Knee-jerk reactions from law enforcement officials and university presidents are best set aside. Ignore, for example, the lame argument that some drunken frat boys will fire their weapons in violation of best practices. This view is based on stereotypical depictions of drunken frat boys, a group whose dignity no one seems willing to defend.
The problem, of course, is not that drunken frat boys will be armed; it is that they are drunken frat boys. Arming them is clearly not the issue. They would cause damage with or without guns. I would point out that urinating against a building or firing a few rounds into a sorority house are both violations of the same honor code.
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Some of my colleagues are concerned that you are encouraging firearms within a densely packed concentration of young people who are away from home for the first time, and are coincidentally the age associated with alcohol and drug experimentation, and the commission of felonies.
Once again, this reflects outdated thinking about students. My current students have grown up learning responsible weapon use through virtual training available on the Xbox and PlayStation. Far from being enamored of violence, many studies have shown, they are numb to it. These creative young minds will certainly be stimulated by access to more technology at the university, items like autoloaders, silencers and hollow points. I am sure that it has not escaped your attention that the library would make an excellent shooting range, and the bookstore could do with fewer books and more ammo choices.
I want to applaud the Legislature’s courage. On a final note: I hope its members will consider my amendment for bulletproof office windows and faculty body armor in Boise State blue and orange.
Greg Hampikian is a professor of biology and criminal justice at Boise State University and a co-author of “Exit to Freedom.”
Image: www.shutterstock.com
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.