“\u2019Students also need to understand that making the wrong choice will result in a lifetime of grief. Aspiring scientists envision curing cancer at the Mayo Clinic. We need to impart a new vision: car bombs, 24\/7 security cameras, embarrassing home demonstrations, threats, injuries, and fear. And, of course, these students need to realize that any personal risk they are willing to assume will also be visited upon their parents, children, and nearest & dearest loved ones. The time to reconsider is now.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel that my life and the lives of my loved ones are in real danger.\u00a0\u00a0Other researchers at UCLA have had their cars and homes firebombed and have been the target of regular death threats.\u00a0\u00a0While I respect the value of law enforcement, the expectation of a sub two minute police response time is generally unrealistic \u2013 and a lot of damage can be done in two minutes as a former law enforcement officer like yourself knows.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a concealed weapons or firearms license holder in the state of —— and have been since 2007.\u00a0\u00a0I have participated in over 100 hours of firearms and firearms safety instruction, including courses on the use and application of deadly force taught by a former chair of the firearms committee for ASLET and an ILEETA advisory board member.\u00a0\u00a0I have been certified by the NRA as an instructor in home firearm safety and certified pistol.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, in spite of all this, I am defenseless because I choose to work on a college campus.\u00a0\u00a0I must leave work unarmed, go to a location that is known to me to be dangerous, and return home unarmed.\u00a0\u00a0Any stops I make along the way on any day in which I am going to or from work must be conducted unarmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor months, I have e-mailed you and other senators about this matter.\u00a0\u00a0I have received form letters and polite, vague responses from aides.\u00a0\u00a0My greatest moment of hope came when Senator —- —– proposed SB 234, which originally had language to permit concealed carry on campus \u2013 until Senator —– ——- suggested (and the criminal justice committee approved) the gutting of the bill.\u00a0\u00a0Their excuse had to do with an anecdote told by a family member of a young woman who was killed in a negligent homicide off campus near (a) State University.\u00a0\u00a0The timing of SB 234 was apparently \u201cpolitically inconvenient\u201d in light of recent events.\u00a0\u00a0To my knowledge, the manslaughterer involved was not a licensed permit holder and was most certainly not observing basic firearms safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am beat-down and exhausted from expressing my safety concerns and attempting to move through the proper channels.\u00a0\u00a0I could count up the e-mails, but there are many.\u00a0\u00a0Surely over 50 by now.\u00a0\u00a0The vague responses and form replies march on.\u00a0\u00a0Meanwhile, those who would harm me continue to flagrantly violate the law, trespassing on campus in spite of repeated warnings.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently, pieces of paper are not adequate defense against criminal activity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be frank, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019m asking you to DO anything anymore.\u00a0\u00a0That has gotten me nowhere.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, I\u2019ll ask you the following:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do I, as a law abiding citizen, have less freedom to protect my loved ones than a criminal has to threaten their safety?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do I feel that my compliance with the law is now at odds with the safety of my family?\u00a0\u00a0How should I respond to these competing interests?\u00a0\u00a0How would you respond, senator, if you were in my situation and had my limited resources?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat incentive do I have to continue to respect the law and work through the proper channels when it seems that my elected officials cannot even manage to protect a freedom enshrined in the bill of rights?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy can I carry a firearm in Wal-Mart, where I can also purchase alcohol, ammunition, and underpants, but I cannot go armed at an institution of higher learning in a workplace occupied predominantly by advanced degree holders?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSince I can\u2019t go armed on campus, what measures do you propose to keep my family safe?\u00a0\u00a0And please don\u2019t suggest law enforcement \u2013 (our university police department) has one of the finest response times in the nation, but if you mime a stabbing for two minutes, that comes out to a lot of knife wounds.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you could respond to these questions or the sentiment behind them, I\u2019d sure appreciate it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWith respect,<\/p>\n
\u201cA concerned student\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We\u2019ve talked here before about the \u201cguns on campus\u201d issue. Adults in the higher education environment do so (or want to) primarily for two reasons: a hedge against \u201cschool shooting\u201d horrors, and for routine protection against muggers, rapists, etc. who consider \u201cgun free zones\u201d to be safe game preserves in which to hunt human victims. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-firearm-owners-civil-rights"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}