Dartblog
Special Feature: The Dartmouth College Case, Round Two
Dartmouth's 70,000 alumni have brought suit against the College Administration, asking for enforcement of an 1891 Agreement granting alumni the right to elect half of the College's Trustees. The judge's first ruling? In favor of the alumni. Read rolling updates here.
Archived post
This is an archived post. Please click here to see the latest entries.
« Judicial Feelings (née constitutionalism) | Home | Ticker Tape Parade »
Because it is such an interesting issue that has such a great bearing on the safety of college students (and indeed all people) across the country, I hope you, my dear reader, will permit me yet another post on gun rights.
The movement for a renewal of gun rights on campus is growing. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), a group that emerged after the Virginia Tech massacre, now has thousands upon thousands of members. I would like to respond briefly to a few of the most common objections to such a policy (and I hope you will join me on the other side of the jump).
But first news from the Jerusalem massacre of 8 students at a Jewish seminary by an Arab terrorist gunman…
[The shooter] was shot and killed by Yitzhak Dadon, an off-duty army officer, who occasionally studied at the seminary. “He came out of the library spraying automatic fire … the terrorist came to the entrance and I shot him twice in the head,” said Mr Dadon, who, like many Israeli men, carries a weapon at all times.
1. “More guns increase the likelihood of gun accidents.” The possibility of, say, guns in the hands of drunken fraternity brothers is often cited. In 2005 nearly 17,000 deaths resulted from alcohol-related driving fatalities, yet we are not attempting to ban cars on campus or anywhere else. Currently firearm accidents account for .6% of accidental deaths, less than motor vehicles (39%), poisoning (18%), falls (16%), suffocation (5%), drowning (2.9%), fires (2.8%), medical mistakes (2.2%), environmental factors (1.2%), and bicycles and tricycles (0.7%).
2. “Campus shooters are irrational, so concealed carry will not deter crime.” Violent criminals (like the shooters at Virginia Tech and NIU) may be not be persuaded not to kill by rational discourse over policy, but they can be shot.
3. “There is a high potential for misuse.” The state of Utah permits concealed carry on campus already; they have had neither accidents nor campus shootings. Concealed carry off-campus has similarly not led to a high prevalence of accidents. Most states already have preexisting requirements for concealed carry permits on top of checks at the stage of purchasing a firearm. Only folks trained and qualified to carry firearms will be permitted to have them on campus, as in the population at large.
4. “Guns will facilitate other crimes.” Quite the contrary. Among the amici who wrote briefs supporting gun rights in D.C. v Heller, a gun rights case before the Supreme Court, were Jews, African-Americans, LGBT, handicapped and disabled persons, and women. All of these groups recognize that guns level the playing field, allowing historically marginalized and victimized groups to protect themselves in the face of crime.
5. “We need less guns on campus, not more.” The campuses on which shootings have taken place have not allowed guns. It cannot be repeated too many times, especially because many people seem not to understand the point: someone seeking to massacre scores of students is unlikely to care that they are violating state (or school) gun policy. To rephrase and repeat, someone willing to murder (which there are also laws against) will not be deterred by gun bans on campus.
Reasonable people may disagree on the issue of gun rights, but every level of discourse on the subject let’s have a debate based on fact and logic not, as Jenn aptly put it, “knee jerk reactions to emotional stimuli.”
Featured posts
Dartblog Specials
- The Dartmouth College Case
- 2007 Trustee Election
- Dartmouth Constitution
- Sunday Morning Sinatra
- The Indian Wars
Donate
Please note
This website reflects the personal opinions of its authors. Any e-mails received may be published along with the full name of the sender. If you wish otherwise, please say so.
All content appearing at Dartblog.com should be presumed copyright 2004-2008 its respective bylined author unless otherwise noted or unless linked to original source.
Advertisement
adminCalendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
Archives
Search
Links
- //Drudge Report
- //AP News
- //Fox News
- //Reuters News
- ABC's The Note
- Andrew Marcus
- Agenda Gap
- Alex Ross
- And Rightly So
- Ann Althouse
- Armavirumque
- Atrios
- Audio Review
- Belgian Prince
- Brad Plumer
- Brussels Journal
- Buzzmachine
- CENTCOM
- Classical Values
- Conservative Thinking
- The Corner
- Craig Sanders
- Coyote Blog
- DartWire
- DartmouthBiz
- Dartmouth Observer
- Dartmouth Review
- Dartmouth Student Assemblog
- Democracy Project
- Different River
- Drew Cline
- Emmett Hogan
- Engadget
- Everyman
- Fresh Politics
- GOP Bloggers
- Hanover Collaboration
- Hatemonger's Quarterly
- Hispanic Pundit
- Hugh Hewitt
- Instapundit
- Iraq the Model
- Jacob Laksin
- Jeff Harrell
- Jen Krimm
- Language Log
- Lawrence Lessig
- Little Green Footballs
- Maggie's Farm
- Marginal Utility
- Matt Nolan
- Maroon Blog
- MN Publius
- McSweeney's
- No Oil for Pacifists
- New Hampshire Green
- New York Radio
- Oh, That Liberal Media
- Old Traditions
- Opinio Juris
- Opinion Journal
- Overheard at Dartmouth
- Pax Plena
- Power Line
- Paul Sand
- RealClearPolitics
- Rick Lee
- Right Side of the Rainbow
- Robert Hansen
- Roger L. Simon
- Samizdata
- Scott Adams
- Scott Burgess
- SCOTUS Blog
- SCSU Scholars
- Super Dartmouth
- TalkLeft
- Terry Teachout
- The MI Guy
- The Moderate Voice
- NRO's The Corner
- NRO's Phi Beta Cons
- Press Gaggle
- The Vatican of Liberalism
- TigerHawk
- Trey Jackson
- Volokh Conspiracy
- Vital Perspective
- Vox Baby
- The Wayward Episcopalian
- WSJ - Washington Wire
- Weekend Pundit
- Wizbang Blog
- Wonkette