South Carolina considers allowing guns on campuses

[Lobster Martini]

(Personal note to Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina: I will loan you a turkey baster so that you can inject some common sense into your empty head.)

South Carolina considers allowing guns on campuses

By SEANNA ADCOX, Associated Press Writer 34 minutes ago

To prevent school shootings, some South Carolina legislators want more guns on campuses.

A House subcommittee approved a measure Wednesday that would allow concealed weapon permit holders to carry guns onto public school campuses, from elementary schools to universities. Supporters say having trained and armed gun owners in schools could prevent massacres like the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech, where one armed student killed 32 people.

Only Utah currently has a law allowing concealed weapons on campuses.

"We're not talking about kids. We're talking about responsible adults," said Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan, who sponsored the bill.

Opponents fear more guns will mean more accidental shootings.

"You can't call a bullet back," said Democratic Rep. Seth Whipper. "It's a bad idea."

The bill heads to the House Judiciary Committee, though it is not expected to pass the Legislature before the scheduled adjournment June 7.

Nationwide, 37 states ban weapons at schools. Of those, 16 explicitly prohibit weapons on college campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

College police chiefs across South Carolina said such a law would make it difficult to pinpoint a criminal. "Today, if we respond, we know the person with the weapon is the bad guy," said Ernest Ellis, the law enforcement director at the University of South Carolina.

To obtain a concealed weapon permit in South Carolina, a resident must be at least 21, undergo at least eight hours of handgun training, and pass criminal and mental background checks.

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070516/ap_on_re_us/guns_on_campus&printer=1;_ylt=AvRYWyYO_9ozj8opgjw.4ABH2ocA)

[adigal]

1. There are a lot of crazies in S. Carolina - did you hear

the anger about the question on the Confederate flag at the debate last night?

[Adsos Letter]

2. That is just wrong-headed on so many levels

[qdemn7]

3. Oh yes

the gun free zone worked SO well at Virginia Tech. :sarcasm:

[Virginia Dare]

5. Bullshit..

the Virginia Tech tragedy occurred because an extremely mentally ill man was legally able to obtain weapons of mass destruction.

[piedmont]

7. Didn't realize Cho had an A-bomb. nt

[krispos42]

11. Oh, that's why we invaded Iraq

Saddam DID have weapons of mass destruction! Pistols and rifles!

<sigh>

Curb the hyperbole here. If Cho had WMDs then DUer "Slackmaster" has the friggin' Death Star in his gun safe.

[Virginia Dare]

16. weapons of appalling lethality, that better?...n/t

[Squatch]

17. How about just calling them "guns"?

There. Nice and simple.

[Virginia Dare]

19. Because I see a distinct difference between..

certain types of guns. Some are capable of doing much more damage than others.

[benEzra]

24. Weapons like your local police officer carries on her hip...

an ordinary 9mm pistol is NOT a "weapon of mass destruction," nor is it a weapon of extreme lethality (a single blast from a shotgun is equivalent to about eight rounds from a 9mm pistol). Many police departments have dropped the 9mm in favor of the .40 S&W because the 9mm isn't considered powerful enough for police use. Those departments that still use nines usually use +P+ ammunition (i.e., pressure way above SAAMI specs) in order to provide acceptable stopping power.

So many people died in the VT massacre because Cho chained the doors to keep the armed police out and his unarmed victims in, and then had 10-15 minutes of free reign to shoot his victims at a leisurely pace, multiple times each, at point-blank range.

[depakid]

14. And Texas has such a low rate of gun related crime...

and such a fine criminal "justice" system to boot.

[benEzra]

25. Vermont sure does...and New Hampshire, and Maine...

And Texas has such a low rate of gun related crime

Vermont sure does...and New Hampshire, and Maine, and Minnesota, and Washington state, and Oregon, and...

You know that Vermont's gun laws are considerably less restrictive than those of Texas, yes? You don't even need a license to carry a handgun for defensive purposes in Vermont.

[Adsos Letter]

22. Are you kidding? Probably not, so...

do you know how much training an infantry unit needs to achieve fire discipline in a battle? How high do you think the casualty count might go with every student involved in a "situation" deciding to pull out their weapon and become an "army of one"? Especially when the situation might not be all that clear.

plus

Gun accidents kill a lot of people every year. Arm campus', and watch that number skyrocket.

[devilgrrl]

4. Awesome! That'll liven up frat parties on campus!!!!

:sarcasm:

[piedmont]

6. Good. It's about time someone recognized the ridiculousness of the honor-system "gun-free zones" nt

[Ron Green]

8. Yee-haw!! Ah'm a WELL-ARMED student of higher edumacation now!

[krispos42]

9. I predict....

Nothing significant will happen if this is passed.

I'd bet a thousand Italian lira that the next mass school shooting will NOT be by a licenced CCW permit holder carrying legally.

[Behind the Aegis]

10. Another tragedy in the making.

Has anyone seen the stress levels on a college campus during mid-terms and finals?! People, who normally are sane, "lose it!" The stress level is very high, people will go days without sleep and all these contribute to irrational behavior...plus add in alcohol. This is a HORRIFIC plan.

[Virginia Dare]

18. I can see Professors being rather uncomfortable with the prospect..

of students running around packing heat.

[donco6]

12. I guess if you gotta try it, SC is the place.

Who would we lose in the next frat party brawl? Some redneck RW dumbass? Sounds like a gene pool cleaning to me.

Only mildly :sarcasm:

[billbuckhead]

15. This would be hilarious if it wasn't deadly tragic and immoral

Why do all these idiots think the answer to gun violence is more guns? No other industrialized nation handles gun regulation this way and no other industrialized nation has these awful results. The Brit only had 46 homicides with guns last year, a twenty year low. School shootings and husband killing wives and then commiting suicide have become an American disease, almost a folk crime.

DU needs to start a forum just about gun crimes.

[donco6]

23. I just shake my head anymore.

That argument and the "if had had a gun, this wouldn't have happened."

[annarbor]

13. Honest question...

A black kid is struggling with an Asian kid over a gun. Which kid do you think people will assume is the bad guy?

When the police show up to a shooting on a college campus, how are they to determine which kid is the shooter when several kids have their weapons out?

Thank gawd this will never fly here in Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor

[slackmaster]

20. Summary of SC concealed weapons permits, procedures, deadly force laws, etc.

Just in case anyone is interested in taking an objective look at who might end up carrying a weapon legally on campus if this passes, and under what circumstances those weapons could legally be used.

http://www.packing.org/state/south_carolina/

[scrinmaster]

21. Right, because the second this passes,

every single student will rush out and get their CCW. Most of the students who can legally get their CCW and carry outside of school probably don't have one. If this passes, 5-10% tops will actually get a permit to carry, and even fewer will actually CCW, so maybe 1-2% tops will acually have a CCW at any given time.

[dogday]

26. If you watched the Republican debate in SC

you would find it easy to understand this....

[mmonk]

27. I have another idea. How about matches in elementary school

to prevent fires?