Guns Idaho Open Thread Rand Paul

Bad Medicine

BadMedicine

Artist – Joel Pett

Biology and criminal justice professor Greg Hampikian at Boise State University asks a good question; if the state allows students to carry guns into his classroom, when it is okay for him to shoot?

This is dripping with snark, but it’s a perfectly valid question given the implications of allowing students to carry guns.

While our city police chief has expressed grave concerns about allowing guns on campus, I would point out that he already has one. I’m glad that you were not intimidated by him, and did not allow him to speak at the public hearing on the bill (though I really enjoyed the 40 minutes you gave to the National Rifle Association spokesman).

Knee-jerk reactions from law enforcement officials and university presidents are best set aside. Ignore, for example, the lame argument that some drunken frat boys will fire their weapons in violation of best practices. This view is based on stereotypical depictions of drunken frat boys, a group whose dignity no one seems willing to defend.

The problem, of course, is not that drunken frat boys will be armed; it is that they are drunken frat boys. Arming them is clearly not the issue. They would cause damage with or without guns. I would point out that urinating against a building or firing a few rounds into a sorority house are both violations of the same honor code.

You should click-thru and read the whole thing. It’s great.