Thursday, March 10, 2011

Crossfire

Have I shared with you my red-state nightmare?

A gunman enters a class I'm teaching in a large lecture hall. Students at first look shocked, but then they all stand up, draw their handguns, and start shooting. (Take a moment to imagine the crossfire and the terror.)

Thanks to the lovely politicians in my new state of delusion, that nightmare is one step closer to reality.

My campus has banned smoking anywhere on the university's grounds. But it's likely that very soon students will be able to bring guns to class.

Smart is sexy--in the classroom, on the job market, pretty much anywhere. Guns, not so much.
Photo by Janina Szkut, and used under a Creative Commons license


I know many students at Boise State come from rural areas and grew up hunting. They're comfortable, therefore, with hunting rifles. But let's be honest--we're not talking about letting students and others bring rifles onto campus. We're talking about handguns. (Including at football games. Because football isn't already enough of a blood sport.)

As someone who grew up in an area scarred by handgun violence perpetrated by teenagers and young adults, I am profoundly uneasy with this latest development.

3 comments:

Lisa V said...

Absolutely everything I've heard is that the campuses are all against this. One crazy prof spoke out for it, but everyone else is against. But no one is down there testifying in massive numbers telling the legislature to vote no. I really wish some students and faculty would flood the capitol and let them know face to face how stupid this is- it's NRA originated, I'm sure.

Leslie M-B said...

Lisa, the campus leaders did testify, including security experts. But you're right--we do need to get large numbers of students and faculty down there.

fairbetty said...

That's crazy, too... because my brother is still suffering the repercussions from a felony conviction for having a switchblade in HIS CAR on school property... his life has been totally flushed as a result of doing time when he was 17...

And now they're going to let you bring guns on campus????