"We wrote this bill because we felt that a student should have the right to self defense on campus. We don't believe that crime stops at a campus' borders." CSU Junior Cooper Anderson and author of the student government bill.For several years now, Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins Colorado has allowed, with restrictions, students with valid Carry Concealed Weapon (CCW) permits to carry their handguns on campus. (Note; in Colorado you must be at least 21 years old to be eligible for a handgun permit, and you must have training from a certified instructor.)
In October of this year, the CSU campus police and the university’s president, Dr. Anthony Frank, and other unnamed “public safety experts” have proposed a change in that policy. These anti-gun “experts” think the CSU campus should become a “gun-free zone”, except for “security officers”.
The CSU faculty senate asked for a review of the CSU gun policy sometime last year, because of the April 2007 mass murder at Virginia Tech University. Seung-hui Cho, a senior student at Virginia Tech killed 32 people and wounded at least 25 others in his cowardly rampage.
CSU has never had a violent gun incident on campus.
But despite that significant fact, at Colorado State University, unnamed public safety experts and the university president's cabinet all support a “gun ban”.
The president’s office said it wanted to hear from the student government to get their take on the proposed ban. So, on Wednesday night, the student governing body voted 21-3 in FAVOR of keeping CSU a conceal carry campus. Five student senators were absent or did not vote.
CSU spokesman Brad Bohlander said President Anthony Frank would consider the student leaders' resolution before making a decision. Apparently CSU's Board of Governors will discuss the issue at a meeting Friday morning in the system's Denver office, but the final decision is Frank's.
"Our police can respond to an incident anywhere on the main campus within about two minutes or less, and the highly populated classrooms in about a minute. They have all gone through active shooter training," CSU spokesperson Brad Bohlander said.
Bohlander obviously isn’t aware that at Virginia Tech, at least 30 of the victims were killed within the first 2 minutes of the attack.
After all, when seconds count, the cops are just minutes away.
When police arrive at such a scene it still takes a few minutes to assess and prioritize the situation.
Regarding the university administration, faculty senate and their unnamed experts, I am constantly amazed at the ignorance of the anti-gun nuts regarding the issue of carrying a concealed handgun. Getting your Concealed Handgun Permit (CCW) in Colorado is a lengthy and expensive process. You MUST take a training class that covers the legal aspects of when you can justifiably use deadly force and when you can’t. I have never heard of a CCW class that was under $100.00. In Adams County the combined fees of applying for a CCW permit was $152.00 in 2006, I’m not sure if this has changed. So, you’re looking at a minimum of $252.00 just to obtain the permit. This doesn’t include the cost of the handgun itself.
Before a permit is approved, a background check is performed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Those individuals seeking a carry permit are decent law abiding citizens who have made a conscience choice to defend themselves with deadly force if necessary, they understand what deadly force is and what the consequences are if they are forced to use it.
Simply put, permit carriers obey the law in Colorado.
After undergoing training and going through the permit process they have become known to the State of Colorado and their home County as a person with the intent to carry a concealed firearm.
They simply aren’t going to start shooting up a campus or a mall. There are a lot of permit holders in Colorado. At sometime or another you have stood or sat next to someone with a permit and a handgun and you never knew it.
Murderous cowards like Cho and don’t forget the Fort Hood islamic terrorist Nidal Hasan, aren’t going to bother with the legal aspects of concealed carry. Yes, I know, in both instances the murderers bought their handguns legally. However, both purchases should not have occurred. They should have been rejected based on the previous actions and history of both of these men. The purchases were allowed because of political correctness in both instances. Cho was deeply disturbed mentally and emotionally, but the powers that be at Virginia Tech knew about his problems, but chose a policy of don’t ask don’t tell. Hasan had already been investigated, somewhat, by the FBI. The Bureau also chose not to ask or tell regarding his islamic, jihadist rants.
These were failures of the vetting process for purchase of firearms. Not failures of the concealed carry permit process.
All of you anti-gun left wing nuts shouldn’t be so ignorantly paranoid. And before you speak out on something try to get your facts straight.
One positive note, in an e-mail statement, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said his office would "not hold or detain a valid permit holder who violates that policy, nor would his department have anything to do with enforcing that policy."
The good Sheriff also said he did not believe unelected university officials have any authority to enact such a ban, which would "directly counter" Colorado law.
Sources;
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=128141&catid=339
http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_13913814?source=commented-
http://media.www.collegian.com/media/storage/paper864/news/2009/12/03/News/Ascsu.County.Wont.Enforce.Gun.Ban-3844240.shtml
