By Matthew Johnson
It is outrageous that a Western Oregon University student was arrested while legally carrying a handgun. I am glad the court system upheld our rights. Imagine being arrested for doing something that is legal. This was the case at WOU, as the Oregon university system clearly overreached their bounds and blatantly infringed upon the rights of the arrested citizen. Oregon law clearly states that the Oregon legislature is the only body that has the authority to regulate firearms. Our director of Public Safety, Harold Burke-Sivers, suggested persons legally carrying a handgun in Oregon could have "extremely inconsistent" training levels. However, Oregon only recognizes concealed handgun licenses that have been issued by the state of Oregon and therefore everyone carrying a handgun in Oregon is held to the same standard. Twenty-one-year-old college students are just as capable and responsible as 21-year-old persons who do not go to college.Ordinary people of college age carry handguns around you every day off campus, so what is the difference between carrying guns out in the general public versus on a college campus? Burke-Sivers expressed concerns with students carrying on campus by saying the most likely scenario that will happen is that intoxicated students will accidently discharge their weapons.Burke-Sivers also said "accidental discharges, suicide or attempted suicide and workplace or domestic violence are more likely scenarios than defending themselves against an armed gunman." The organization Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (concealedcampus.org) found from several studies that of all of the public schools in Utah and a few others which allow the concealed carry of pistols on their campuses, had no gun related incidents, including gun violence, suicides, threats, accidents as well as gun thefts during a combined total of one hundred semesters. It seems that 21-year- old adults who carry off campus are still responsible with handguns even on college campuses. We live in a world where it is impossible to prevent criminals from getting guns and stopping them from bringing them wherever they want. We already have laws saying that criminals cannot have guns and that guns are not allowed in certain areas.It is these areas which present the easiest targets for criminals, since law abiding citizens leave their guns at home. There is story after story of people leaving their guns at home, since it was illegal for them to carry at the time, and a criminal comes and starts shooting people. Then the only thing the law abiding gun owners can think of is "What if I had my gun?" Maybe they would not have been able to prevent the shooting from happening but it would not have hurt. I do not expect the University of Portland to reverse its weapons policy even though I think we would be better off. I do think that Public Safety should take another look at the policy and consider a revision. How many students do you think constantly violate the weapons policy (carrying pepper spray)? I know several women (who no longer attend this university) who have carried pepper spray at all times. They only carried it for self defense and they felt a lot safer having it. It is very likely that students today are still carrying non-lethal devices to defend themselves. Is having this restriction really keeping the campus safer? Is someone who wants to rob you or do worse really going to care that the UP regulations state they cannot have pepper spray or a handgun? University officials will probably say this is what Public Safety officers are for, to keep students safe. They are here 24/7 to protect us. But how long does it take for a perpetrator to incapacitate someone? Public Safety will not always be in the right place at the right time. Should we be forced to rely on them? Students living off campus walk home, oftentimes in the dark, and criminals know that we are not supposed to have anything to protect ourselves with. The UP policy is making us extremely easy targets. We should be allowed to take care of ourselves because we cannot count on someone else to be there to protect us. Matthew Johnson is a senior electrical engineering major. He can be contacted at johnsonm11@up.edu.
