Minnesota lawmaker wants guns on campus
The University of Minnesota campus on Wednesday looked much like you'd expect on a warm spring day. But amid the books and backpacks, one lawmaker would like to see -- guns.
From Kare11.com, April 17, 2008
"What I envision here is students finally being able to protect themselves," said Rep. Tony Cornish, a Republican from Good Thunder.
Cornish wants to tweak Minnesota's current Carry and Conceal law to also allow guns on campus. On Wednesday, he introduced a bill that will make just those changes. The Republican lawmaker with about about 30 years in law enforcement says the anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings alone gives proof of why our state needs the law.
"Right now the only option a student has when they're attacked is to scream and run in terror and to hide behind the desk," Cornish said. "The only thing that's going to stop the threat is another armed threat."
But students and officals both argued that guns on campus will only increase the threat.
"I don't even know if I would go here anymore I would feel so unsafe," said Annie Oemichen, a U of M student.
"My first gut reaction is 'wow, that's kind of scary to have that kind of capability to have students having guns,'" said Dugan McGraw, also a U of M student.
University of Minnesota officials say a Carry and Conceal law would probably not even apply to the University of Minnesota. The U of M has what is called "constitutional autonomy," meaning it goes by the rules of its Regents not the legislature. Regents first decided back in 2003 to not allow guns on campus.
Still, University of Minnesota Police Chief Greg Hestness says adding more guns to the mix on any campus would hurt more than it would help.
"We do get concerned about potential for crossfire," he said.
And the chief says, the state may be pulling the trigger too soon if it's merely reacting to other high profile crimes, like the Virginia Tech shootings.
"This is such an incredibly rare occurrence, they're catastrophic and they're huge news when it happens but they're extremely uncommon," Hestness said.
Rep. Cornish says he doesn't expect his bill will even get a hearing this session. But he says it's just the beginning. He plans to pursue legislation in the years ahead.
