So now what?

Another university shooting. By now everyone knows that a nut went into a university (which had a gun-free policy) in Illinois (a state that has essentially banned all guns) and fired away at a bunch of innocent unarmed individuals. This time the shooter wasn't even a student at the school.

So now what? What are students supposed to do?

States have tried gun bans. They failed. Universities have tried gun bans. They failed too. The Brady Bunch will be capitalizing on the event again tomorrow with cries that "had only there been more stringent gun control" the whole thing could have been avoided.

Fine. Politics and idiots will keep being stupid. The question in my mind is what would I tell my kids to do if they were attending a university?

First, I would ask them if they would consider coming home. An education may be important, but you can get your stupid piece of paper rubber stamped through correspondence courses. So why live in a death trap that proclaims civil rights, but denies the right to self-defense?

Second, if they refused to or were unable to come home, I would tell them that they're going to be getting a package. It's going to have a 9mm, a box of premium hollow-point ammo, and a spare clip. The grips will be Crimson Trace. In addition, there is going to be a holster appropriate for them to carry it under deep concealment.

I know. I sound like such a radical. I would just tell my kid to violate the university laws and carry concealed anyway? Yep. An unjust law is not a law that must be followed. If the state is going to deny the right of self-defense to its citizens then the state must guarantee the safety of those same citizens. If they cannot or will not make such a guarantee then the law is fundamentally and unequivocally unjust. Therefore it is not a law my son or daughter should submit to.

This is called civil disobedience. It is the refusal to comply with certain laws as a form of political protest. However, it is more than that. It is a statement of the simple truth that you and you alone are responsible for your safety.

The police in Illinois have admitted that there was nothing they could have done to have stopped this event from starting. The university will say the same thing. However, what they will not say is that had one law-abiding student in that audience been armed and able to use a firearm in self-defense the killer would still be dead, but others might have lived and still others would not have been wounded.

As for me, I want my child to come home alive - even if it means she's charged with a felony for saving her own life.

Go ahead, call me a radical. Call me a nut. I don't care. I love my children and I want them to rely on themselves for their lives, not on a police station fifteen minutes away.

CCW Bills in WA State

I was unable to make it to Olympia yesterday due mostly to health reasons. I wish I could have been there though, last year was a blast!

The usual suspects were on hand to sponsor and support the anti-gun bill. Thankfully it seems that a large number of gun rights supporters were on hand to thwart their efforts.

Here is a news story about yesterday's events. Enjoy!

As was pointed out by Joe Waldron, someone really should enlighten Ms. Comer and KOMO what the difference between defending yourself and vigilantism is.

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Two bills take opposite sides on issue of guns on campus

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Two state lawmakers have offered dramatically different bills dealing with guns on college campuses and the measures touched off spirited debate Thursday at a Senate committee hearing.

The bill offered by Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, would ban weapons at colleges that host high school students. That would include community colleges that offer the Running Start program, and universities when high school students are touring.

In response to Murray's bill, Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, introduced her own measure that would prohibit universities from banning concealed weapons. Her argument is that people with permits to carry weapons would make campuses safer. Most universities now ban weapons on campus, but that is not a state law.

The debate before the Senate Committee on Higher Education touched on everything from the Second Amendment to last year's fatal mass shooting at Virginia Tech.

Neither measure is likely to go anywhere in this year's short legislative session, said Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, the committee chairman. He suggested the sponsors work out their differences and come back next year.

Murray said his bill is an extension of existing state law that prohibits weapons at elementary and secondary schools.

"When you talk about guns, people start to flip out," he said. "We have a tragic history in this country with guns in high schools. We're not infringing on the Second Amendment when we try to protect (students)."

But Roach declared, "Based on the policy of the last 30 years, it may be evident that this is a failed policy, there have been 38 college and school shootings since the prohibition of guns in schools was enacted. There were only two recorded during the 150 years preceding that prohibition."

Murray offered his bill after hearing from constituents of a case last October at Seattle Central Community College where a student was found carrying three weapons, including semiautomatic handguns.

At Virginia Tech last April, a student fatally shot 32 people before committing suicide.

At the University of Washington in Seattle, employee Rebecca Griego was fatally shot last April by an ex-boyfriend who then killed himself.

The hearing attracted a handful of college students, including some from the UW, who testified in favor of concealed weapons on campuses.

Trip Volpe, a UW student who has a concealed weapon permit, called the policy against weapons on campus ineffective and added "there's very little anyone can do to stop a person with a gun in hand and murder in their hearts."

During the current session, Gov. Chris Gregoire requested a bill aimed at improving campus safety, but it did not touch on the gun issue. Idaho's Legislature is also considering a bill similar to Roach's.

Pro-gun backers showed up in force, handing out buttons opposing the gun-banning bill. They argued that people who want to use guns to hurt people would not care about weapon bans.

"I want to make sure the record reflects that Virginia Tech was a gun free zone, and results (were) painfully predictable," said Brian Judy, testifying for the National Rifle Association. "Only the victims were gun free."

But gun foes said guns on campuses would create more trouble.

"Well-intentioned people who have firearms and want to save the day often end up adding to the violence of the situation or becoming victims themselves," said Kristen Comer, executive director of Washington Cease Fire. "Any time we start to get into the area of vigilante justice, it's a bit precarious."

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The bill banning weapons on community college campuses is SB 6841. The bill prohibiting universities from banning concealed weapons is SB 6860.