Brent Tenney says he feels pretty safe when he goes to class at the University of Utah, but he takes no chances. He brings a loaded 9 mm semiautomatic with him every day.I'm undecided on this. On the one hand, introducing and reinforcing the concept of armed citizens into the public consciousness is something we need to do. On the other, holding a (GASP) semiautomatic pistol with the campus as a background won't exactly give the fence-sitters among us the warm and fuzzies, particularly so soon after Virginia Tech. Besides, the whole point of carrying concealed is that no one knows.
I'm glad Brent has the courage to take an individual stand--we do need more like that. I hope he hasn't made himself a target for the campus antis, who could make his academic life difficult.
Thoughts, anyone?
[Via HZ]
Being that I live about 30 minutes from the U of U and go there all the time for Uarc meetings (Ham radio). I fear that this brave gentleman may have made himself a target for far more than the anti-gun students. He may have to face poor treatment by anti-gun faculty (which may affect his grades).
ReplyDeleteThe major issue with Utah currently, is that so many are moving here from anti-gun/anti-freedom parts of the US (California, Illinois, East Coast etc.) to escape crime - yes, I have asked. Yet they are bringing the same ideas and attitudes that caused them to move and escape the crime "they" caused - namely being anti-gun.
Still, I fear by going it alone that this gentleman may have made himself a target. As the old saying goes "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
Well, if it makes you feel better, there haven't been any mass murders, shootouts or showdowns at high noon, in Utah universities.
ReplyDeleteIt's been three years now. Not gonna happen. However, some of the kids were safer. Granted, any student who carries a firearm to protect his life is showing much more maturity than the student who is doing his best to die of alcohol poisoning.
Mixed feelings David? Really??
ReplyDeleteI have to say I am surprised.
I have no mixed feelings here. I think it great to see gun-owners standing up and making themselves seen, especially on a University campus after something like VT.
I hope he hasn't made himself a target for the campus antis, who could make his academic life difficult.
Don't let'm get to you. :) You may be surprised. It's like , you'll get a lot of cautionary concerns from people beforehand, and you later find out when carrying that most people don't think much of it. And I don't know about you, but it makes me want to cheer when I see Mr. Average American carrying openly. And if they Carry on a campus, outstanding.
C.H.
Garrett has brought up another issue that only recently showed up on my radar. The migration of the anti's and how they bring their politics with them. I've seen the shift in my area over the last two years ... about the same time I moved here. I left Illinois and ran just over the border into Indiana because of Illinois' politics. Now the educated professional elites are likewise leaving Chicago and the burbs in search of nearby country livin. Unfortunately, they've brought their poisonous views of freedom with them.
ReplyDeleteDang.
ReplyDeleteSorry David, the posting had a hiccup.
...fence-sitters among us the warm and fuzzies...
Who knows. Might be the opposite. They see someone with a gun and find out they aren't knuckle-dragging Neanderthals, and the fear-propaganda of the anti's camp takes a hit.
I saw the CNN piece on TV where they interviewed a U of U professor who they just told that a student in their class have been carrying a gun all year and asked him if he knew and how he felt about that. The professor just smiled and said, something along the lines of "It doesn't bother me. In fact I feel a little safer."
C.H.
The migration is a big issue. I saw South Florida go from an open carry wilderness to become a suburb of New York.
ReplyDeleteI also recall some trouble a small rural Virginia school was having when some transplanted New Englanders became aware of some of the local customs involving freedom of religion in the school and were simply aghast. I wish I had a link.
I too remember when open carry was the rule of the day in South Florida, and recall how the police and politicians screamed to the high heavens that the incoming immigrants from Cuba would run the streets red if THEY were allowed to do so as well. Lots of people fell for it hook, line, and stinker.
ReplyDeleteI saw the CNN bit about the UofU students carrying as well. Great piece. CNN gave a disproportionate amount of time to a professor with vague the-sky-is-falling rhetoric, but the students who carried more than countered it. They were responsible, restrained, intelligent students. They really represented themselves (and us) well. And that single teacher commenting that he "in fact, feels a little safer" was terrific. I can't believe such a rational comment made it on the air!
ReplyDelete