Right to bear arms enforced in class
The U.S. Constitution states that all people have the right to bear arms without infringement of the government, and Terry Camp, senior in political science and president of the USU College Republicans, said he supports this right.
Utah State University’s policies and procedures contain only one mention of firearms and according to the policy, “Misconduct can be described as: Illegal or unauthorized possession or use of a firearm, ammunition, explosives, weapons, or dangerous chemicals on University property.”
This means students are allowed to carry concealed weapons, if they have a permit.
The College Republicans hosted “Packing Heat,” a concealed weapons permit class, Saturday. Camp said the club hosts the class every semester as a way to endorse students’ second amendment rights. He said the reason the club hosts the class is because people should know how to use the weapons they carry, and have control of them.
Camp said he doesn’t have a gun, but as a Republican he believes students should be able to carry guns on campus, and pointed to the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting as an example of why.
“People can take down the gunmen, and protect themselves,” he said.
The USU Democrats were contacted and the club’s president Anna Harris, said she had no comment concerning the concealed weapons issue.
USU Police Capt. Steven Milne, said while he believes completely in the constitution and the public’s right to bear arms, there are some things that worry him about students having concealed weapons on campus.
He said if there was a scenario such as a shooter on campus, in the Taggart Student Center, then having other students on campus with concealed weapons can make a situation more difficult in determining who the antagonist is.
“If there are others pulling their guns to protect themselves, as a police officer, how are you going to determine who is the bad guy, and who is friendly?” he said.
The other problem, he said, is that police officers are constantly training with their guns, whereas citizens don’t have to repeat training, or continue their training once the permit has been received.
“Now, just about anyone without a criminal record can get a concealed weapons permit, but my worry is, how good they are under stress, and how good of a shot they are,” Milne said.
The Utah Criminal Code reads that “A person may not possess any dangerous weapon, firearm, or sawed-off shotgun at a place that the person knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is on or about school premises,” and the possession of such is a class A misdemeanor.
School is defined in the Criminal Code as any public or private school, the grounds of a school, through elementary, middle school, secondary, and post-secondary school, or anywhere that is hosting a school-sponsored event.
Camp said Utah and USU’s laws regarding packing on campus are not as strict as schools in the East, and said one member of the College Republicans has experience with the guidelines at other schools.
“He is from Connecticut, and he said there is nowhere that having concealed weapons would be allowed on campus. We’re really privileged that our state is so respectful of our rights,” Camp said.
Camp said he believes that the more politicians try to limit the use of guns, the more of a problem they will become, and he said the situation is much like drugs.
“The illegality of it can cause more problems. We’re so infected with so many drugs, it’s because they’re illegal. I think the crime problems in Chicago are caused by citizens not having guns,” Camp said. “Guns make our nation safer than the harm they cause.”
– april.ashland@aggiemail.usu.edu