National Collegiate Empty Holster Protest Oct 22-26
On April 16, 2007, twenty-seven students and five faculty members at
Virginia Tech lost their lives to a madman who possessed one distinct
advantage over his victims-He wasn't concerned with following the
rules. Undeterred by Virginia Tech's status as a "gun free zone," this
mentally unstable individual carried two handguns onto the university
campus and indiscriminately opened fire.
During the week of October 22-26, 2007, college students throughout
America will attend classes wearing empty holsters, in protest of
state laws and campus policies that stack the odds in favor of armed
killers by disarming law abiding citizens who are licensed to carry
concealed handguns virtually everywhere else.
In thirty-nine U.S. states, thousands of collegiate students and
faculty-age twenty-one and above-are licensed to carry concealed
handguns throughout their day-to-day lives. And they do so without
incident. However, despite the absence of any compelling evidence that
these licensed individuals might pose any more threat to college
campuses than they do to office buildings, shopping malls, movie
theaters, grocery stores, banks, etc., they are currently prohibited,
either by state law or school policy, from carrying their firearms
onto most college campuses. On October 22 these students, through
their Empty Holster Protest, will ask for a change.
In the last twenty years, the vast majority of the mass shootings in
America-from the Texas Luby's massacre to the Columbine High School
massacre-have happened in "gun free zones." Labeling an area "gun
free" may make some people feel safer, but as the shootings at
Virginia Tech taught us, feeling safe and being safe are not the same
thing.
For over a year, state law in Utah has allowed licensed individuals to
carry concealed handguns on college campuses. This has yet to result
in a single act of violence. Numerous studies, including studies by
John Lott, David Mustard, William Sturdevant, and state justice
departments, show that license holders are five times less likely than
non-license holders to be arrested for violent crimes. Clearly,
license holders pose little threat to college campuses.
While some may argue that guns have no place in institutions of higher
learning, the students of the Empty Holster Protest contend that it is
the threat of uncontested, execution-style massacre that has no place
on America's college campuses, and these students respectfully ask
that steps be taken to take the advantage away from those who seek to
harm the innocent.
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T-shirts are now available for anyone wishing to support the Students
for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) empty holster protest.
http://www.shirtmagic.com/shop/concealedcampus
