Posted by
Nicodemus on Monday, February 18, 2008 5:10:51 PM
You couldn't have missed it last week. It's was a St. Valentine's Day massacre at Northern Illnois University. Stephen Kazmierczak, a former graduate student at the institution, entered a class and started shooting, killing five, wounding sixteen, and then offed himself. There's still no clue to why he did it, aside from he had stopped taking medications. We'll also never forget the other one early last year. April 21st, 2007 Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 students on Virginia Tech’s campus.
Colleges and universities are supposed to be places of open discussion, learning, and excellence. They're also gun-free zones, and that means an evil lunatic can turn them into a slaughterhouse.
Fortunately, a few brave members of the Kentucky legislature are working to correct this problem. Rep. Robert Damron, along with 60 other members of the state House, have prefiled HB 114. The bill reads:
AN ACT relating to deadly weapons.
Amend KRS 237.115, relating to government control of carrying of concealed deadly weapons, to require universities, colleges, and postsecondary institutions to comply with the provisions of KRS 237.106 and 237.110(17)(b) to ensure that persons may keep firearms in vehicles on university property if they do not remove the firearm from the vehicle; amend KRS 237.110 to conform.
It's not perfect, but it's a good strong step forward. Rep. Darmon was instrumental in passing Kentucky's concealed carry law a decade ago. Leftist influence in the House is threatening to keep the bill locked up in committee.
Crime on campus isn't limited to mass shootings. Even now, police have found the body of 19-year-old Brianna Denison, a student at the University of Nevada-Reno. DNA evidence indicates she was the victim of a serial rapist, perhaps his third victim. Foxnews.com reports there may have been a fourth attack by the same person. The rape happened in the police's garage. The city and campus are in a state of fear. The university is offering seminars and passing out whistles.
Let's hope some of these young women get firearms and the training to use them.
HB 114 is needed now more than ever.