MN Republican takes advantage of VA Tech tragedy to push for guns on campus...poll added
Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 07:53:09 AM PDT
This is my first diary, but I'm so mad that I just had to write.
While MN is known as a liberal state, we still have our share of right-wing crazies...more than enough for my taste. One of them is Republican state representative Tony Cornish who is so obsessed by guns that he recently authored a bill legalizing using a gun to defend your home and property, something that is already legal. I guess he just wanted to fulfill his campaign promises to the NRA or something.
His latest stunt takes the cake, in that he uses the victims of the VA Tech tragedy to push his own gun agenda by forcing campuses to allow students to carry concealed weapons.
More below the fold...
April 16th was the 1st anniversary of the shootings at VA Tech, which means that it is also the 1st anniversary of crazy proposals by gun-nuts using the victims to push their own NRA-sponsored agendas.
From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, More guns, safer campus?:
A year after a deranged gunman killed 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech, a debate over thwarting future attacks continues in Minnesota, where a legislator advocates allowing students to carry concealed weapons for protection on campus.
The proposal by Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, faces an uphill climb but reflects a national movement among gun advocates and some students to overturn prohibitions on students carrying weapons at college.
Contradicting the prevailing view and policies of Minnesota universities, the gun supporters argue that trained, armed students would prevent or minimize violence on campus.
While on its face this sounds logical (enabling students to defend themselves from crazy gunmen is good, right?) it would cause more problems than it solves, and the fact that most law enforcement officials are against this proposal shows that they agree. The facts are that having guns on campus increases suicides and gun violence, especially in a population known for drinking and risky behavior. While risky behavior is a part of campus life, we should not make it more dangerous for them by bringing guns into the mix. Having guns on campus year-round is not the answer for a problem that appears rarely if ever on campus.
The Star-Tribune also interviews a student that reflects the Republican's reliance on fear to push their agenda. Not only with campus violence, but many other issues.
Alex Tripp, a student at Minnesota State University, Mankato, who is active in the effort to allow students to carry guns, cited the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University in a recent letter to Cornish urging a change in state law.
"Before last year's shootings I never was scared on campus," Tripp wrote. "After these two shootings, I am scared. Very scared."
...
Tripp, a 21-year-old junior, is a member of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, which claims 25,000 members nationwide. He does not recall a serious incident at Mankato State, but said, "You never know when something like this could happen, and we don't think we should be left defenseless."
I have Republican friends, and when discussing politics they never seem to understand why irrational fear leads us to make bad decisions. They just give me a blank stare because I think they've been conditioned all their life to make decisions based on fear, and unfortunately the Republican Party reinforces that. This is a perfect example of how fear of something that doesn't affect this student personally forces him to support a supposed cure not based on facts, but based on his own fear of a crazy gunman on campus. Whether there are problems with students not being treated for mental health issues is irrelevant. All that matters is his fear.
University general counsel Mark Rotenberg said rare episodes of violence at American universities don't justify allowing guns on campus for protection.
"There are spectacular examples ... of violence on university campuses, but the facts are that this university and most university campuses are among the very safest places in the urban area," he said.
The facts support this, and turning our college campuses into Wild West shooting galleries is not going to make them any safer.
I'm happy that this won't go anywhere in Minnesota, but there are states where a crazy law like this might actually pass. We should be prepared to fight each year at this time when the VA Tech victims are again used for political purposes.
Please add your comments and take my poll.
Permalink | 11 comments