ODU students fed up with crime, start a petition to allow concealed carry on campus

Amid a rash of violent crimes on and around campus, a group of students at Old Dominion University in Norfolk has begun a petition asking the school’s administration to change the on-campus gun ban, so that students and faculty alike can defend themselves without fear of expulsion or termination.

The ODU College Republicans are sponsoring the petition and have a page on Facebook entitled “Students for a Safer Campus,” asking for signatures. Club member Tyler Spires told WAVY-10: “If they have their concealed weapons permit to be able to carry their weapons on campus, they're already law abiding students, they have the right to carry it on campus.”

The university is located in the city and much of the campus borders on crime-ridden neighborhoods, long the domain of violent drug dealers. In fact, ODU students have been the target of many rapes, assaults and robberies for the last 30 years, when the school began its encroachment into the surrounding neighborhoods.

Break-ins are common in homes and apartments around the school, frequently rented by ODU students.

Contrary to school policy, the following examples show the merits of allowing students and staff to carry concealed weapons on campus:

-In 1997, Mississippi teenager Luke Woodham killed his mother and then drove to Pearl High School where he killed two students and wounded seven more. Assistant Principal Joel Myrick ran a quarter of a mile to his vehicle and returned with his .45 pistol. Myrick confronted the teenaged killer and detained him while waiting for police to arrive. Woodham was attempting to leave the high school and planned to drive to the local middle school and continue his killing. Myrick's actions undoubtedly saved the lives of many children that day.

- In 2002, a Nigerian student named Peter Odighizuwa shot and killed three people at the Appalachian School of Law in rural Virginia. His shooting spree was ended when fellow students Todd Ross and Ted Bessen went to their cars and retrieved their own guns. The pair returned and ordered Odighizuwa to drop his weapon and held him until police arrived.

-In February 2007, at a Salt Lake City mall, an armed off-duty police officer shot and killed a young Muslim named Sulejman Talovic. The officer (Ken Hammond), prevented a massacre as Talovic was found with a backpack full of ammunition, a shotgun, and a pistol. Before Officer Hammond ended the shooting spree, Talovic murdered five people.

Currently, Utah and Oregon are the only states in the union which allow teachers and staff to carry weapons in their schools. It is no coincidence that there has never been a school shooting spree unleashed in either of those states.

-In April 2007, a shooting spree at Virginia Tech carried out by Seung Hui Cho resulted in the loss of 32 innocent lives. Regardless of his motive or grim determination, had one or two students or teachers been armed--his murderous attack in Tech's Norris Hall could have been stopped.

In 2006, a Va. Tech student was disciplined for carrying a gun on campus, even though he possessed a concealed weapons permit. Va. Tech officials were quick to point out that their school was a "gun free zone." That assertion has not only proven to be naive but deadly as well.

In January 2006, House Bill 1572 was introduced in the Virginia General assembly. The legislation would have allowed students who possess a concealed weapons permit to carry their guns anywhere on campus. Most schools in Virginia have policies against students and faculty carrying guns on campus, Va. Tech is of course one of those schools. The bill failed to pass through the Committee on Militia, Police, and Public Safety.

Va. Tech Vice President Larry Hincker gave the following statement shortly after the aforementioned measure died in committee: "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty, and visitors feel safe on our campus."

I wonder if Mr. Hincker has the courage to sit down with every family who lost a son or daughter in the 2007 attack and explain that statement?

Florida State University professor and ACLU member Dr. Gary Kleck conducted a 1993 nationwide study, in which he concluded that U.S. citizens use guns to successfully defend themselves 500,000 times a year, outside of the home. A 1996 University of Chicago study found that states which passed concealed carry handgun laws experienced an 8.5 percent drop in murders, a 5 percent drop in rapes, and a 7 percent drop in aggravated assaults.

It is simply impossible for the police to defend us 24 hours a day. Nor can they somehow pre-empt crime. It is the responsibility of every citizen to defend himself. However, if governments create laws which make the possession of firearms illegal, the lawful citizen becomes nothing more than a target for the lawless.

Unfortunately, what anti-2nd Amendment activists deem a 'gun free zone,' is actually seen by violent criminals as a 'free fire zone.' Criminals are always encouraged by gun control laws.

You can sign the petition at the following link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/Old-Dominion-Concealed-Carry-Safe/  

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