National Collegiate Empty Holster Protest -- who's in?!

http://tinyurl.com/2etlno

johnsoncitypress.com
Will ETSU students have to holster their planned rally?

By Sam Watson
Press Education Writer
[email protected]

An "empty holster" demonstration to promote campus firearm possession
is getting a second look from East Tennessee State University
administrators after they initially warned a student club that
participation could result in discipline.

"I was real happy to hear that they're reconsidering that," Jay
Adkins, a vice president in ETSU's Marksmanship Club, said Monday. "I
was surprised at the reaction that I got, because right off the bat,
it was a reaction of, 'No, this can't be done. It's inappropriate.'"

Club members had approached administrators about their intentions to
don empty holsters for a national event organized by Students for
Concealed Carry on Campus to support legislation that would allow
permit holders to carry concealed handguns on college campuses.

On its Web site, the national group cites last spring's deadly
Virginia Tech rampage and the 1999 Columbine High School massacre as
reasons for the movement.

"After such tragedies as Columbine and Virginia Tech, it is
abundantly clear that the only way to stop mass murderers is to have
responsible citizens in the classroom and on campuses able to carry
their licensed handguns," the site states.

Opponents, including the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence,
argue that allowing concealed firearms on campuses would dramatically
increase gun violence risks to college students.

ETSU administrators originally shot down the idea of local
participation in the empty holster demonstration, informing Adkins
that any student seen wearing an empty holster on the campus would
face discipline for disorderly conduct. Anyone who refused to remove
a holster would face further sanctions for failing to cooperate with
institutional officials.

In an e-mail to Adkins dated Wednesday, ETSU Associate Vice President
for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Joe Sherlin also noted
deaths on other campuses as reason for the administration's position.

"Particularly in light of recent campus shootings, wearing a firearm
holster on the campus can be intimidating and unreasonably disturbing
to others and can create a disruption to campus activities," Sherlin
wrote.

But on Friday, Sherlin said administrators were re-evaluating the
original ruling and doing more research for a final determination.
Attorneys at ETSU and its governing body, the Tennessee Board of
Regents, were involved.

"That was our initial response out of the box, but we continue to
gather information on it and are in consultation with legal counsel
on it even further, and we have decided that we need to take a look
at it," Sherlin said.

Sherlin said the administration's main concern was how others might
react to seeing empty holsters at ETSU.

"There's a potential to create disturbance on the campus," he said.
"We have individuals coming in and out of campus. It's a possibility
that they could be disturbed by someone in a holster. They would not
know if they have a firearm, and that could create a disruption."

Regardless of the administration's decision about the empty holster
demonstration, Sherlin said, club members would be free to use other
methods to express themselves on the issue.

"The request to have the protest has never been in question," Sherlin
said. "They're free to protest on the campus and make their cause
known, distribute literature. The only issue that's in question is
the request to use empty firearm holsters.

"Freedom of speech is a key to a university as a marketplace of
ideas. It happens all the time, and that's part of what we're about."

Adkins characterized his intentions in approaching the administration
as a courtesy rather than a request.

"I didn't feel that we really required permission, but I wanted to be
up front," Adkins said. "If somebody were to have concerns, we wanted
the administration (and) we wanted campus safety to know what was
going on so that things couldn't get escalated unnecessarily."

Although he spoke of that potential for escalation, Adkins said he
did not consider the administration's concerns about disruption
legitimate, given the Marksmanship Club's intentions of publicizing
the empty holster campaign.

"We were going to have flyers all over campus," Adkins said. "We were
going to be getting the word out that this was going to be happening.
So, this was not going to be just students showing up one day with
holsters."

He dismissed the notion that students, employees and campus safety
officers would have difficulty differentiating between an empty
holster and a real threat.

"I would think if someone saw a holster, they would look and see
there's not a gun in there," he said. "If it's not in the holster, it
would be in your hand. If they see a gun in your hand, that's going
to raise an alarm."

Adkins had a similar take on how people on campus would differentiate
between someone carrying a weapon for protection and someone with
harmful intent, saying campuses would be no different than shopping
malls and other locations where permit holders can legally carry
firearms.

"We just want our rights to extend on the campus just like all of our
other rights do," Adkins said.

 

Geez, Brian. You could've at least given a warning before posting that alarming image. I'm going to sue you for emotional distress!

 

You have a PM.

 

You have a PM, too.

 

You have a PM, too.