WICHITA, KANSAS — Wichita Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D) recently submitted a bill that would exempt public state colleges and universities from complying with a previous state mandate to allow concealed carry on campus. Unfortunately for her, it was sunk in committee as it failed to advance to the floor.
If you’re noticing a pattern here, you’re not alone. As more states eliminate colleges and universities as “gun free zones”, there’s a flurry of last minute bills to try to stop that from happening.
Gun control advocates will issue an endless litany of merit-less statements about safety. after all, why should people pursuing an education have the right to their Second Amendment?
Despite arguments against the 2013 state mandate and the staunch condemnation of gun control advocates, students appear comforted by the fact that their admission to Kansas State will include their ability to carry firearms.
“I’ve spoke to a lot of people that I go to school with, and that I will go to school with next year at the University of Kansas,” said Andrew Lee, a student at St. James Academy. “They have based their decision to go that university specifically because of the conceal carry laws.”
“I would definitely feel more safe having the option to conceal and carry,” said high school senior Olivia Rodgers. Some high schoolers are saying the ability to carry a concealed weapon on campus would be a factor in choosing a college. “As a young lady going off to college, personal safety is definitely on the forefront of my mind. So having the right to decide how to protect myself is an important factor in my college decision.“
According to FOX 4 Kansas City News, a 2013 Kansas law stipulates that public buildings must either allow concealed carry or provide additional security. The logic seems to go as follows: if the state can not secure a publicly funded area, then they have no claim to preventing an individual citizen from securing his or her own protection.
The biggest counter argument appears to be that students attending a college education are not mentally competent or fit enough to carry a gun.
“Before school even starts, freshmen come to Kansas college campuses for sorority and fraternity rush and band camp. One week later, thousands of our best and brightest move into dorms and living communities. We know that these kids, fresh out of high school, are thrown into a unique time of accelerated decision making mixed with alcohol, drugs and stress. It is my hope as a mom of a KSU freshman that we do not add guns to the mix. The most absurd thing about campus carry to me is that dorm rules prevent you from having a candle in your room. But you can have a gun after July 1.”
LeAnne Stowe, Overland Park mother.
A candle is a potential fire hazard. And if we’re to believed that these young adults are incapable of reason or logic because they’ll be so filled with drugs and alcohol, what the heck are they doing in higher education to begin with?
More importantly, the Second Amendment guarantees that every citizen has a duty to keep and bear arms. Kansas undoubtedly acknowledges this right. If these publicly funded universities are nothing more than some raucous rolling drug-fueled orgy, why are taxpayers supporting it?
Maybe it’s time to hold people accountable instead of institutions?
That’s a discussion for a different time, I suppose. In the meantime, students after July 1, 2017, will be allowed to possess concealed handguns so long as they are otherwise legally allowed to have them.
Welcome to the adult world. This is a place where your actions affect more than just you and people have the right to defend their lives. If these publicly funded universities find it so deplorable, maybe they should direct more funding towards tighter security practices to meet the state statute… Or, you know, allow adults to make adult decisions.
