By Robert D. Walsh, Ph.D., Professor, Bitterroot College/UM
Higher education in Montana is heading for Dodge City before Wyatt Earp got there. MUS Regents, come to the rescue!
Regarding the proposal of HB 102 to extend the right to carry concealed weapons to students attending classes at MUS colleges and universities, the MUS Board of Regents must firmly reject any such proposal. For the safety of all, guns on campus must continue to be banned.
As a professor teaching in the Bitterroot College/UM program in Hamilton, I am very concerned about the implications of HB 102. If college students are legally permitted to carry concealed weapons in the classroom, it will be logical to assume that any or all of my students are carrying concealed weapons. In that case, I should be capable of defending myself while in the classroom. Perhaps I should carry my 357 Magnum on my hip and keep an AK-47 on my desk at the ready, and procure a Kevlar vest so that it will be clear to my students that I am ready, willing, and able to defend myself from any attack in my classroom. Good grief! What a sad state-of-affairs that will be for higher education in the great state of Montana!
The right to bear arms is not absolute or universal. If the law can prohibit guns in buildings owned by the federal government and other select places, guns can also be rightfully and logically banned in all educational facilities.
By creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear in the classroom, HB 102 undermines the goals of higher education and makes students and teachers in Montana less safe, not more safe. Must we wait for the first teacher to get shot dead in the classroom by an unbalanced or irate student before good, common sense is restored? Regents, make the right decision now. No guns in the classroom!
Mike Miller says
For someone clamoring to be so smart, what part of that Constitutional Right to bear arms do you not understand?
Robert Walsh says
Thanks for the rhetorical question, Mike.
I don’t claim to be a Constitutional expert but the right to bear arms (like all texts) requires scholarly interpretation and only seems imminently, lucidly, and unquestionably clear prima facie to the unlearned. What it means for the BOR and not the Legislature to have “full power” to run the MUS system and set policy will apparently be interpreted and decided by the MT Supreme Court. Beyond that, campus 2nd amendment issues may yet arise….
Best,
Robert
Mike Miller says
It does NOT require scholarly interpretation. The Second Amendment simply, clearly, and boldly states “…the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” Our new Montana State Law clearly restates this Right.
So I’ll ask you again: what part of that Constitutional Right to bear arms do you not understand?
Mike Mercer says
Just so you know, the Board of Regents have no say in this matter, which is the whole point; it’s a shame they must be forced to follow the State Constitution.
You have a fiduciary responsibility to your students so show some fortitude instead of passing fear to them. Your argument is moot, try sharing it with your students not dictating, you might just learn something yourself.
Helen Sabin says
Professor Wash – I too was a college professor at a community college and I loved the fact that I as a faculty member could conceal carry on campus. right along with the students at the college where I taught. Consider Professor, that data shows that violent crime is less when more people conceal carry. In addition, many CC people would also defend YOU, professor, if you were in trouble. You never would have made it in the “good old days..” when even school teachers had guns to protect their students and themselves. And by the way, stand up for the unalienable right to self-defense. Try it you might like it.
Robert Walsh says
Thank you for your considered reply to my letter, Helen. I was delighted to hear about how much you “loved” carrying a concealed weapon on campus when you were a professor and how much safer and protected that made you feel in the classroom. Yet, your attitude is such a curiosity for me. Not so much the fact of being armed when it is clearly necessary, which obviously makes sense. But to “love” carrying a concealed weapon on campus so that you feel safe and protected and in-charge when you teach…that kind of passionate attachment to weapons is just the phobia-driven, trigger-happy, stand-your-ground mentality that makes a gun-drenched environment less safe, not more safe, depending on how you define safe, of course.
And as for your weak non-argument from “data,” really, you can get data that you think says all sorts of things. But no such clear and convincing data as you offhandedly reference is available to prove whether guns make people safer or more prone and likely to use them.
In the “good ol’ days,” Helen…but, heck, referencing the “good ol’ days” is a lot like imploring the deity of “data’ in that you can get them to say whatever you want them to say. Myself, I think the good ol’ days were when God-fearing folks loved and trusted one another and the person who felt the need to be armed 24/7 was as out of place as a fossil.
Kind regards,
Robert
Jill Jones says
Hello Mr Mercer,
Just so you know it appears the Board of Regents does have a say in the matter. The Montana State Constitution is the very thing that gives them that say.
May I direct you to Article X, Part X, Section 9. Please take note of the “full responsibility” part. It is a shame the Governor and Legislature also has to follow the State Constitution.
Section 9. Boards of education. (1) There is a state board of education composed of the board of regents of higher education and the board of public education. It is responsible for long-range planning, and for coordinating and evaluating policies and programs for the state’s educational systems. It shall submit unified budget requests. A tie vote at any meeting may be broken by the governor, who is an ex officio member of each component board.
(2) (a) The government and control of the Montana university system is vested in a board of regents of higher education which shall have full power, responsibility, and authority to supervise, coordinate, manage and control the Montana university system and shall supervise and coordinate other public educational institutions assigned by law.
Mike Mercer says
That is a potential Constitutional conflict but that will be decided by the courts; looks like the regents pres. Mike Brody is shooting for that…no pun intended.
Mark Harris says
I get that you are afraid, sir, but most people understand that if you ban guns from schools, only criminals will have them. Don’t you believe that the average young adult displays good judgement?
Marc Sabin says
You have correctly identified the issue. Gun free zones invite a attack by criminals People with guns to defend themselves deter violent crime. These timid professors need to learn from real data and not gun control zealots and their propaganda.
Robert Walsh says
Odd that you would presume that I am the one who is afraid, Mark. Seems more logical to conclude that folks who only feel safe when they are armed 24/7 are clearly the ones motivated by fear. Under current conditions, I have no fear of being in my classroom.
I am motivated by sound judgment and common sense. Thus, I believe that it is prudent for the BOR to challenge the constitutionality of HB 102 and other overreaching legislation. The BOR, not the politicized Legislature, should control all on-campus student and academic policy within a collegial framework of academic freedom. The current ban on guns on campus has effectively protected all persons on campus.
Re your argument about advantage going to criminals if guns are banned, according to the FBI, saturating an environment with weapons will never be able to prevent the actions of a lone, determined, bad actor. And, the more guns in an environment, the higher the likelihood of unintentional, accidental, and misdirected discharge.