Students advocate for more lenient gun laws
By: Nicole Santa Cruz
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: News
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As soon as James Knitter, the UA campus leader for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus turned 21, he got a concealed weapons permit.
"I got my permit right when I turned 21 and I've been carrying ever since," the pre-physiology sophomore said.
He put in his application to start the UA chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus just two days before the shootings that killed 6 people at Northern Illinois University Feb. 14.
"For me, the NIU shooting was vindication," he said. "It gave me even more of a reason to start this thing."
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is an organization that advocates for handgun license owners to be able to carry weapons on college campuses.
The organization started right after the April 16 Virginia Tech shooting just more than a year ago. Since then, national membership has grown to more than 25,000 college students, faculty members and other citizens.
This week, the organization is holding an "empty holster" protest nationwide, where students wear empty holsters to campus to raise awareness of gun laws, and for students and faculty to be able to protest the defenselessness they may feel by not being able to carry on campus, Knitter said.
"The empty holster is symbolic for current policies tying our hands behind our backs," Knitter said. "With students that carry everywhere else, why should the campus be any different?"
About 20 students are participating in the empty holster protest, which hasn't garnered much attention from students, Knitter said.
"Surprisingly, no students have asked me about it," he said. "Most people look at it and don't even do a double take."
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Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 6
Dustin
posted 4/24/08 @ 9:41 AM MST
This article was very well written. Kudos to Author Nicole Santa Cruz for presenting the interview without adding anti-gun propaganda. This issue really is about personal liberty. (Continued…)
Ben Kalafut
posted 4/24/08 @ 3:52 PM MST
The Daily Wildcat has, so far, given this issue fairer treatment than any other paper in the State. I tip my hat to its editors and staff!
Knut
Knut
posted 4/24/08 @ 10:54 PM MST
This is ridiculous! Why would anyone want guns legalized on campus? And don't give me that safety BS. Say this thing did get passed, and some people started carrying guns. (Continued…)
Ben Kalafut
posted 4/25/08 @ 2:11 AM MST
Knut:
(1) People already carry guns, almost everywhere else in the state except schools, bars, and courthouses. "Realistically," we can't expect the experience at the U to be any different than the rest of Arizona, or, for that matter, Colorado State University and any of Utah's public universities. (Continued…)
Knut
knut
posted 4/25/08 @ 4:12 AM MST
crap lost all the stuff i wrote down. I sent my post into the Letter to the Editor and will continue talking there. Im in for a world of hurt aren't i?
1. (Continued…)
Ben Kalafut
posted 4/27/08 @ 3:23 AM MST
(1) Arizona has had a shall-issue concealed-carry policy since 1994. It is legal for a properly licensed individual to carry a concealed weapon throughout the state, with a few exceptions, such as schools, alcohol-serving establishments, and the University. (Continued…)
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