The Red and Black

Issue date: 8/28/08 Section: Opinions

GLENN MARTIN

Recently, the University Police issued the Campus Weapons Policy, banning weapons on campus.

As a former staff member, current graduate student, active hunter, Georgia Firearms License holder and proponent of concealed carry, I feel this policy is baseless, discriminatory and counter-productive.

By law, I can - and frequently do - carry a firearm. I carry in order to provide protection for myself and my family, and for other citizens.

I can carry a loaded firearm legally in my car, on the street, in restaurants, on public transportation, in state and local parks and in many other locations.

However, according to the Campus Weapons Policy, the minute I step or drive within 1,000 feet of University property with a firearm (even if it is unloaded and locked or disassembled), I become a criminal guilty of a felony offense.

I know what you're all thinking, but I assure you I do understand where the policy is coming from.

The University Police, administrators and bureaucrats want to prevent violent crime on campus, and that is surely a noble goal.

No one wants to see members of the campus community (or any community) being stabbed, shot, blown up or otherwise victimized.

However, in reality, the policy does not and cannot prevent individuals from bringing weapons to campus with the intention of injuring or slaying innocent, law-abiding citizens.

It merely prevents the innocent, law-abiding citizens from possessing the tools necessary to defend themselves from such attacks.

This is a logical conclusion, given that laws and regulations apply only to those of us who follow or abide by the laws and regulations.

Criminals, by definition, operate outside of this legal framework.

Let the police or other law enforcement handle it, you say? The problem is that the police are a response mechanism, both by design and necessity.

Basically, if I am on the phone with the police, then I am already a victim or observer of a crime. The crime has already been committed. Someone has been assaulted, or robbed, or stabbed or shot, and there is nothing the police can do about it.

Crime is best prevented by the targets or would-be victims of said crime. Namely, that is you and me.

The best way to do this is to be aware of your surroundings and avoid being an easy target.

However, I believe it is the responsibility of each individual to be prepared, willing and able to defend themselves, or others nearby, should they become the target of a crime.

We need tools in order to defend ourselves, and it is the possession of these very tools that the Campus Weapons Policy prohibits.

I'd also like to call your attention to a seemingly mundane detail of the policy.

Surprisingly, the policy allows "faculty, staff and visitors to campus" to possess "weapons or devices which are legal to possess" (guns, knives, etc.) provided they're in a locked compartment inside a motor vehicle.

It's absurd the same right is withheld from the student body.

Who knew the title of "faculty, staff or visitor" magically confers an advanced knowledge of firearm safety and discretion upon the bearer?

I'm just curious; what benefit could this possibly have?

If the weapon is locked and in a car, then what harm is being done?

This has personal ramifications for me, as I frequently hunt before or after class, and this requires an additional trip home to drop off my weapon.

I could just unload it, lock it and put it in the trunk, but there is always the possibility that it could un-lock itself, re-load itself, open the trunk and commence a shooting spree while I'm busy learning the nuances of groundwater movement in a karst topography.

The policy, and links to the Georgia Code on which it's based, may be viewed at http://www.police.uga.edu/weapons.html.

- Glenn Martin is a graduate student from Athens studying forestry.

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