A new student group has emerged on the Villanova campus: the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. The SCCC (which I hope is pronounced “sick-kuh-kuh”) is an umbrella organization that boasts nearly 20,000 students on 500 campuses nationwide. In the wake of the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois school shootings, they are fighting for the right for students to carry concealed weapons on their college campuses.
Their argument is simple: if granted proper permits, students should be allowed to protect themselves against would-be shooters.In the Inquirer article, Ken Stanton, a graduate student at Virginia Tech, compared wearing a seat belt to carrying a concealed weapon. He said, “It’s the same reason we wear seat belts - we just don’t know when something is going to happen.”
With great respect to Mr. Stanton, I’m not aware of too many seat belt massacres and, typically, a lengthy background check is not necessary to acquire a seat belt.If SCCC succeeds in their quest to pack heat in class, it could provide a precedent for neighboring schools like Penn. During NSO, freshmen could receive their Penn cards, register to vote, and sign up for their Glocks.
Intuitively, I have a hard time swallowing (that’s what she said) the idea that more guns breed less violence. Sure, a few handguns may make a beer pong game a little more exciting, but I’m unconvinced that the Penn campus will be safer as a result of a concealed carry policy and student-vigilantes. I’d much rather be armed with a text message.
However, on the plus side, with more valuable items available, we probably wouldn’t have to worry about our laptops or underwear being stolen.
Tags: glocks, sick-kuh-kuh, Villanova
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March 3rd, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I too hope “sick-kuh-kuh” is the pronunciation.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Mr. Stewart,
Apparently you’re an idiot, because you have to be 21 to have a concealed carry permit in Philly — and you have to undergo a background check with the Philly PD. So your idea of freshman playing beirut while holding onto their Glocks is ridiculous. Speaking of which, do you know anything about Glocks? About guns in general? About the 2nd Amendment? Probably not. As a senior on campus, I’ve witnessed and been involved in several violent crimes (I witnessed a shooting a few years ago and I was recently followed home by a “local” who got in my face and nearly attacked me). Having a firearm would’ve been quite a confidence booster — and would’ve been a good exercise of a Constitutional right.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Mr. Senior,
First, your ad homonyms and vigor are appreciated.
Secondly, it is true that you have to be twenty-one to obtain a concealed carry permit in Philadelphia. However, if a Penn underclassman wants to carry a concealed weapon, they need only travel to Maine, New Hampshire, or North Dakota to obtain a non-resident permit. So, my “idea of freshman [sic] playing beirut while holding onto their Glocks” (which, ironically, never appeared in my blog) may seem far-fetched, but it is no less comforting that twenty-one and twenty-two year olds would be allowed to carry concealed handguns. I’ve heard that students in this age range enjoy alcohol as well.
Oh, and about those Philly PD background checks? One law enforcement source told CNN in 2007 that Pennsylvania hands out permits to carry like “candy.” There are 29,000 concealed carry permits in Philly, compared to 800 in 1995. I feel much safer. (Link: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2007/10/philly-gunning-for-more-control.html)
I actually do know a bit about Glocks, guns, and the Second Amendment, but if you’re inviting me on a hunting trip, I’ll pass. I would implore you to examine Robertson v. Baldwin, which ruled, “The right of the people to keep and bare arms is not infringed upon by laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons.”
Lastly, I am sorry to hear about your experience with violent crimes. However, were these incidents on campus? Because if not, then they are not relevant to the above blog or the SCCC.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Vaughn,
You’re clueless, man. If I were you, I would stick to topics that I actually knew something about, which probably excludes most things. Come on, you’re a college freshman, who thinks he knows and understands the world. In reality, you’ve got a lot of growing up and learning to do.
August 17th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Stewart you retard, you HAVE to go through government certified training programs, a very thorough background check; meaning no past criminal behavior or history of mental illness. The weapons you would bee aloud to carry would probably not include a Glock, but something smaller like a P22. You HAVE to have your concealed carry permit with you at all times and you HAVE to be judged a responsible pearson in your training. And by the way the SCCC is doing a very great thing by letting people protect themselves on a school campus, most of which are not even safe today. So like that guy john above me said don’t go typing BS on sights when you don’t even know what you are talking about.
August 17th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Sorry for calling you a retard but what you said really irritated me. And sorry about the misspelled words my keyboard sucks. Pluss I’m only thirteen.
August 17th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Wow, Stewart… You need to watch what you write…because as far as I know, 21 year old freshmen don’t exist.
But just think about this;
A man on anti-depressants (which are usually the people who commit school shootings) comes into your school; he shoots your principal and starts lining up your friends and fellow students on the wall. You watch in horror as he starts to open fire, and you realize that the only way to stop him would have been to shoot him. But you are against carrying guns on campus-or were until now-so you don’t have one.
Now, think about this;
The same man walks into your school, and pulls a gun on your principal. Now in this situation, your friend has a gun permit, and sees this. He pulls out his gun and aims it at the man’s head. The man turns and attempts to shoot your friend, but being that he has gone through the gun courses, he shoots the man in the arm. The man drops his gun, and the principal calls the police, as your fellow students (who are-guess what!-not dead) tackle him and wait for the police to arrive.
Now, you decide, Mr. Stewart, which situation sounds better?
August 17th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Woot!
August 17th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Stewart, I read the link to the CNN website. “Handing out concealed carry permits like candy,” just means they’re handing out a lot of them. Which is (in my opinion) a good thing. It means that more and more people are understanding that they can protect themselves. Now I do find it concerning that people can buy any gun they want without anything but a quick background check. But I don’t know if I fully believe it, and I definitely don’t believe that someone could walk in and buy any more than fifteen guns at one time without some suspicion and an investigation from the police. Just because the press said it was true dosen’t mean it is. After all The National Inquirer comes from the press and it’s a bunch of BS. I stil completely disagree with your opinion, but that’s the point of a blog site. If everyone’s opinion was exactly the same then there would be no point posting anything. And don’t make fun of organizations, like SCCC, that are trying to do something for the American people even if you disagree with them, because then it’s just like you spat in thier face. I’ll do a little more research on that CNN thing for now.