We all have opinions. And sometimes those opinions change when we’re presented with fresh information. Certainly every concealed carrier reading this knows that situational awareness is built upon actively observing one’s surroundings. Today, we feel safe — everything appears fine. Tomorrow? Who knows.
Well, what happens when the president of Florida State University changes his opinion 4 times in 5 years? According to a recent article released by the Herald-Tribune, Florida State University president John Thrasher has switched his position on making Florida State University’s campus open to concealed carriers.
Certainly, he must have some great rationale for this?
It turns out it’s more likely due to — drum roll, please — pandering for political influence. But, that’s sort of funny because the FSU president isn’t supposed to directly lobby Florida politicians. That didn’t stop him from trying to stomp on a bill submitted by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, that would grant concealed carriers the right to be on campus.
“I’m personally opposed to it. I think it’s a bad thing for universities to do. I would love to see us have a gun-free zone frankly on our campus,” Thrasher said earlier this year.
It gets better.
According to the Herald-Tribune’s research, two state representatives have been personally approached by Thrasher to vote against this most recent campus-carry bill. Apparently state law prohibits him from doing that due to his recent departure from the Senate. Weird.
And apparently, when he was a Senator, he always suckered up to the NRA to get them to vouch for him but the second he took office, he was running and gunning to shoot down any concealed carry bill that made it to the floor.
It was only when he was facing re-election in 2014 that he decided to reverse his anti-gun rhetoric to get the NRA to swing back in his favor. They did. He was then appointed shortly thereafter to take over as the president for Florida State University.
The Herald-Tribune noted that 10 days into his first term, a tragic shooting occurred on campus. The smoke barely cleared before Thrasher came right back out against concealed carry.
Sadly, the NRA figured out too late that Thrasher couldn’t be trusted to stick to his proverbial guns. Obviously, the impact of peoples lives being taken is catastrophic and certainly gives pause for reflection. This is something that affects the hearts and minds of all Americans as we struggle to find solutions to mental health issues.
Unfortunately, by the time the NRA realized they had backed the wrong horse – Thrasher was already well established. Now, a staunch opponent of concealed carry measures both on campus and off, he seems to have no problem sliding past Florida law in order to influence other Florida politicians to see his side.
It’s funny how laws work, isn’t it? Law-abiding citizens wishing to maintain their perfectly valid and legal right to maintain a concealed firearm on their person must now wait and hope that the day a bill hits the floor of state congress, Thrasher isn’t waiting in the wings to get it torched. In the meantime, those same citizens have to walk in fear on and off campus hoping that the criminals somehow forgot they were on a gun free university campus.