On may way to the office this morning, the young man striding off to class in front of me, was in animated discussion on his phone about the desirability of getting a "tactical sight" for his handgun, and the need to pick up some more bullets.
Beretta tactical sight - for speed of acquisition!
In the wake of recent incidents, including some verbal threats made not a million miles from my office, and in anticipation of some revised legal considerations, namely that students carrying guns openly will likely be permitted on a number of campuses, we have been offered appropriate training:
"The Five OUTs: Surviving an Active Shooter"
It is good to be proactive.
I don't know if I can get in (slots are limited), if the timing fits my schedule, or indeed what I could actually learn.
But, when asked, what one ought to do if a student came to class with a gun, I still think my instinctive response was correct:
"Make a joke about his penis size. It will work either way."
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The legislature here in Arizona recently tried to enact a law allowing concealed carry on campuses. Needless to say, the University is very much against it, especially after what happened here on January 8. After failing to pass a bill that allows it everywhere on campus, they're now trying to allow concealed carry on all outdoor campus property, but not in buildings.
We bestow great power and then trust that people will take great responsibility. Naivete at its finest!
In my experience, a pump-action shotgun negates the need for fancy sights. I used to bring an ancient blunderbuss to class, but reloading it was murder...
For more robust targets the m1949 Carl Gustaf missile launcer will generally do nicely.
More seriously, do the politicians in `Merica regard Liberia as the national role model? You do know that "Mad Max" was not a documentary, right?
I suspect that none of the advocates of these bills have ever been in combat. Neither have I, but I'm not silly enough to advocate such a bill.
Consider this scenario: Bad Guy opens fire in a crowd. Hero, who is among the crowd, draws his gun and shoots Bad Guy. At this point somebody else--either another bystander or the arriving police--reacts to the shooting. How does this third person know, in the heat of battle, which of the first two shooters is the Bad Guy and which is the Hero? My instinct says that half of the time (more, if there are multiple Heroes in the crowd) the third person will guess wrong and shoot the Hero. Oh, and by the way, this scenario makes the unrealistic assumption that everybody who opens fire is a perfect shot--in a real crowd there is a high risk that an innocent bystander will take a bullet fired by a Hero or a third shooter.
Well, I am a bit of a traditionalist, and think that gentleman scholars ought to carry their swords.
As long as I, not being much of a gentleman, get to bring an axe.
I think though that what we really need is open carry of fragmentation grenades on campus.
First of all, with iPhones, iPads, iMacs etc academics are probably about as well protected as Vietnam era marines (kevlar vests have been ruled not allowable expenses);
secondly, senior faculty already have "throw yourself on the live grenade" instincts; and, finally, it enables the "I pulled the pin, shoot me and we all die" ploy!
Win!
According to legend, a fellow student of mine in my old alma mater was ejected from exams for not wearing his sword.
(In the 1990s).
Now admittedly we was demanding a glass of sherry at the time, but as a "Scholar" that was his right, apparently. Trinity College Dublin has a system of "scholars" and scholarships: A Scholar is someone who receives straight firsts in a set of exams in freshers years: tough exams, about 20 students a year succeed. It entitles the student to free fees and boarding (and food, books, etc.), but also makes them technically part-owners of the college (owned by the "fellows and scholars").
Theu have by reputation several extra privileges, such as brandy during exams, parking their boats in the duckpond (now front square, etc), but the full list of rules is never publically available. So when he exercised said privilege, he was ejected from the exam (which he was in practice exempt from anyway).
The older colleges and universities might take note and revisit their rulebooks.
Eric Lund @ 3, I think it's exactly the fantasy of gun-totin' lawmakers in the US that they can be some kind of hero if ever a nutter goes on a rampage. Unfortunately how often has it happened that an untrained, armed civilian has stopped a determined psycho? Come to think of it, if they don't get shot by police, they usually get taken down when a group of men rush them and pile on. I think that would probably be more effective than nervous civvies letting off bullets in every direction, assuming they aren't frozen by surprise or don't fumble their weapon.
Interestingly there was a shooting here almost two decades ago, which was stopped by a trained (army infantry) unarmed student tackling the shooter.
I think I'm taking the seminar next month, the "fifth out" is "take out" - should be interesting...