Students Protest Gun Free Zones

Empty Holster Protests Coming to a College Campus Near You

On April 16, 2007, twenty-seven students and five faculty members at Virginia Tech lost their lives to a madman who possessed one distinct advantage over his victims—He wasn’t concerned with following the rules. Undeterred by Virginia Tech’s status as a “gun free zone,” this mentally unstable individual carried two handguns onto the university campus and indiscriminately opened fire.
 
During the week of October 22-26, 2007, college students throughout America will attend classes wearing empty holsters, in protest of state laws and campus policies that stack the odds in favor of armed killers by disarming law abiding citizens who are licensed to carry concealed handguns virtually everywhere else.
 
In thirty-nine U.S. states, thousands of collegiate students and faculty—age twenty-one and above—are licensed to carry concealed handguns throughout their day-to-day lives. And they do so without incident. However, despite the absence of any compelling evidence that these licensed individuals might pose any more threat to college campuses than they do to office buildings, shopping malls, movie theaters, grocery stores, banks, etc., they are currently prohibited, either by state law or school policy, from carrying their firearms onto most college campuses. On October 22 these students, through their Empty Holster Protest, will ask for a change.
 
In the last twenty years, the vast majority of the mass shootings in America—from the Texas Luby’s massacre to the Columbine High School massacre—have happened in “gun free zones.” Labeling an area “gun free” may make some people feel safer, but as the shootings at Virginia Tech taught us, feeling safe and being safe are not the same thing.
 
For over a year, state law in Utah has allowed licensed individuals to carry concealed handguns on college campuses. This has yet to result in a single act of violence. Numerous studies, including studies by John Lott, David Mustard, William Sturdevant, and state justice departments, show that license holders are five times less likely than non-license holders to be arrested for violent crimes. Clearly, license holders pose little threat to college campuses.
 
While some may argue that guns have no place in institutions of higher learning, the students of the Empty Holster Protest contend that it is the threat of uncontested, execution-style massacre that has no place on America’s college campuses, and these students respectfully ask that steps be taken to take the advantage away from those who seek to harm the innocent. Source

JBS Commentary - Organized by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), a nation-wide "empty holster" protest is planned for the week of October 22-26. Organizers hope that thousands of college students will be attending classes wearing empty holsters in protest of state laws and campus policies that prohibit concealed carry for students. SCCC believes that the prohibitive policies now in place on many campuses stack the odds in favor of armed killers by disarming the law abiding, giving the killers a distinct advantage over their victims.

The majority of shootings in America, particularly school shootings, have happened in "gun free zones." College students know only too well that they are no longer safe — labeling campuses as "gun free" can serve as an invitation for these massacres to take place.  Andrew Dysart, who heads George Mason University’s Students for Concealed Carry, says: "You wonder how much it plays into people’s minds that they know students don’t have any weapons." But George Mason University’s Board of Visitors plans to reinforce and extend the existing ban, prohibiting all members of the University Community, and all visitors, from carrying weapons.

In thirty-nine states, thousands of students and faculty members, age 21 and above, are licensed to carry concealed handguns, and they do it safely and without incident every day. Utah already allows licensed individuals to carry concealed handguns on college campuses and not a single act of violence has occurred.

Western Kentucky University, on the other hand, bans all guns on campus. University official Gene Tice warns that students carrying guns might actually create a more dangerous environment. "My concern would be the person would not have that kind of training in a highly charged emotional situation [the] way our police would." Students from that school plan to respectfully protest, even though school officials said they will be keeping a close eye to make sure all holsters are empty.

To date there is absolutely no evidence that licensed individuals pose any greater threat to campus safety than non-carrying individuals. These students seek only to protect themselves and other defenseless persons around them by choosing to exercise their 2nd Amendment-protected rights.