Conceal, carry and coffee
Jessica Sewing | Collegio Reporter
The National Gun Victims Action Council recently launched a nationwide protest against Starbucks because the chain of coffee shops allows patrons to carry concealed weapons in their stores. But members of Gorillas for Concealed Carry on Campus held their own protest Tuesday, Feb. 14, in support of the local Starbucks. The Gorillas for Concealed Carry on Campus urged gun owners to join in support of Starbucks.
Mike Berry says that the protests by the National Gun Victims Action Council are an attempt to force their ways onto the company.
“What they are trying to do is bully Starbucks into changing their policies, even though most businesses have the same policies,” said Berry, sophomore in auto technology.
Edwin Stremel says he agrees with Berry. Both say that every person who has undergone the permit process has the right to carry a concealed weapon to protect themselves.
“It’s not just about the right to carry a concealed weapon,” said Stremel, senior in automotive technology. “It’s about a right to be able to defend oneself. No one can predict when a crime will occur; if we could we wouldn’t need police. Criminals will strike anywhere at any time, and I don’t say that to suggest we should walk around in a constant state of fear. I simply think it’s wise to be prepared to protect ourselves and our loved ones.”
The Gorillas for Concealed Carry on Campus say that individuals should be allowed to carry concealed weapons in public places, even while on campus.
PSU’s current policy, according to the PSU website, is “no weapons will be allowed on university premises or facilities, or at university-sponsored or supervised events. Students are subject to criminal prosecution as well as disciplinary action for violation of this policy.”
Yeji Kim, a student from South Korea, says many Asian countries don’t allow concealed carry at all and many don’t allow citizens to buy guns. Kim says that carrying weapons in public is frightening and causes problems
“Carrying concealed weapons can result in more problems,” said Kim, senior in business. “If no one carried guns, then there would be less violence.”
Stremel says Gorillas for Concealed Carry on Campus don’t believe that being allowed to carry concealed weapons would stop assaults on campus or in the community, but they think it could reduce the chances of violence.
“Statistics show that concealed-carry permit holders are significantly less likely to commit a crime than their non-permit-holding counterparts,” Stremel said. “People have the right to protect themselves in public places and carrying a concealed weapon is part of that right.”
Since people are legally free to carry firearms on Pennsylvania college campuses, how can a student be subject to “Criminal Prosecution” for violating the schools policy? The answer is he can’t… You really should know the law if you’re going to quote it..
Josh is correct. Under the Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act, it is unlawful for a person with a carry license to carry inside of a building that has been posted with the no carry sign. The law does not under any circumstances allow an entity to ban firearms on that entity’s campus or from allowing the carrier to stow their firearm in their vehicles on that property. The University could only push disciplinary action, not levy criminal charges, or cause criminal charges to be leveled against that person. You really should know the law before making assumptions.
I also wonder why you chose to interview someone who has zero experience with firearms and who lives in a country that doesn’t even allow firearms among their citizenry. Surely it was not an attempt to slant the article in favor of the anti gun lobby.
John Lott’s study More Guns Less Crime showed that an increase in civilian firearm ownership correlated with a decrease in crime rate. The violent crime rates in the US has been in steady decline since the early 90′s while gun ownership has risen to 90 guns per 100 people and homicide is no longer even on the top 15 leading causes of death.
It’s also pertinent to note that Switzerland has mandatory military service and nearly every household has a military grade, automatic rifle in their possession yet one of the lowest violent crime rates in the world.
Guns don’t kill people, criminals do, and they do so with any number of tools at their disposal.