I must apologize to Charlton Heston and the Utah State Rifle and Pistol Association. I was wrong to think that the right to pack heat in school was trivial and dangerous.
When I first heard that the U could not prohibit handguns from the classroom, I thought it was pretty silly. Here is this “cowboy Legislature” advocating for less government and more localized control — which doesn’t sound half bad; after all, who knows how to best oversee a community than the community itself — yet, the cowboys from Kanab and Clearfield don’t practice what they preach. Up from the hill, they dictate to administrators, professors, faculty and students on what is best for the classroom and campus. Back then, as a newbie, it seemed to me that the U would know how to provide an optimum environment for learning — more so than the ranchers and insurance agents that make up the part-time Utah State Legislature.
But a college career later, I’ve changed my mind (about the guns, not the power-hungry hypocrites imposing their will). I bought a Glock 21 with night sights. I ordered it online, and it was in the mailbox three days later. Yes, I’m Glocked and loaded.
In the last four years, there’s been at least four instances in which someone opened fire on a college campus, looking to kill as many as possible before going down in a blaze of bullets. The shooters preyed on innocent, unsuspecting and defenseless students and teachers.
Well, I don’t want to be one of the defenseless and will be packing in case some nut — and, God knows Utah is chock full of wackos — barges into one of the LNCO lecture halls and starts firing from the top row.
That said, I say this to Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, and the rest of the zealots who want to force the U to allow gun owners the right to brandish their weapons out in the open: proceed at your own risk.
If I see anyone walking around campus with a gun out in the open, I’m not taking any risks. I’m going to find the nearest cover and lock the firearm-toting individual in my crosshairs. At the slightest bit of alarming behavior, precautionary measures will be taken.
For those who support House Bill 473 — citing such reasons as “I’m in a wheelchair, and wearing a holster is uncomfortable,” or “I’ve got a sunburn, and my gun chafes when I stuff it into my crotch,” or “This shoulder strap is getting in the way while I breast feed my kid. For God’s sake, it’s sucking on the tip of my Smith & Wesson,” — don’t make any sudden movements. How am I to decipher between Johnny Utah, who likes to hunt and show off his piece in Econ class, and Connie Carnage, the disheveled grad student who got dumped by her boyfriend, bombed her latest exam and wants some blood?
I don’t know who has evil in their heart and ice in their veins. I’m not ready to die and I don’t want to see any classmates or coworkers killed. So, if I see someone on campus with a gun out in the open, I’m going to assume the worst.
If HB 473 passes and the NRA faithful insist on an open-carry policy, beware: come on campus flaunting your weapon, and there could be a target on your back.