CCW on campus proposed by TN legislator

I sent off an email to the editors of UT's Daily Beacon yesterday, doing my best to try to enlighten the overopinionated and underinformed (the two generally go hand in hand) about CCW issues. In short, I said:

- CCW doesn't apply to everyone--people seem to jump to the conclusion that, once it's passed--hoo boy, everybody will be packing heat under their coats. Nope, only licensees get to do it. Legally, that is.

- The process of licensing involves a fair amount of money, time, and background checks. This both serves to ensure that only those serious about taking up this responsibility do so, and winds up with citizens better capable of doing just that.

- Freedom of speech doesn't require quality of content, but if there is ever going to be any real meaningful discussions on CCW, 2A, or any other topic, the anti crowd really needs to do their homework and approach the forum from a more informed POV.

But, getting back to my native state--apparently, there has been a long-standing discussion in the Volunteer State about Concealed Carry on campus. State Representative Stacey Campfield is proposing a bill allowing full-time faculty and staff who are CCW licensees to be allowed to exercise their 2A rights.

Naturally, there's opposition among liberalism's clergy and laity to let one of their temples be defiled with anything conservative.

A UTPD special operations captain doesn't like the idea, saying that students and faculty need to be more familiar with evacuation routes.

I can see his point, but to me, it's almost like he's instructing people to be better targets...the school shootings that have happened were generally not committed by outsiders, but students also familiar with the schools they terrorized. That includes emergency procedures and evacuation routes, neither of which help stop a perp in a timely fashion.

I remember as a grad student at UT (1993-1995) waking up to the sound of gunfire one night in the parking lot behind my dorm (Andy Holt Apartments). At least, I thought it was gunfire. The police sirens that sounded a good half hour gave further credence to my suspicions, and it was confirmed in the Beacon a day or two later. Some kid still in high school was upset over a breakup with his girlfriend (a student at UT) and decided to take a SKS to her car. Riddled it with about a score of holes (maybe 30) before fleeing the scene.

KPD caught up with him (they are the only ones authorized to have a weapon on campus), but by then, the damage had been long done. Police simply cannot be everywhere, and cannot respond instantaneously to a crisis.