The Columbus Dispatch – by Alan Schwarz, NY Times
As gun-rights advocates push to legalize firearms on college campuses, an argument is taking shape: Arming female students would help reduce sexual assaults.
The carrying of concealed firearms on college campuses is banned in Ohio and 40 other states by law or by university policy. Carrying guns openly generally is not permitted.
But this year, lawmakers in 10 states who are pushing bills that would permit the carrying of firearms on campus are hoping that the spotlight on sexual assault will help them win passage of their measures.
“If you’ve got a person that’s raped because you wouldn’t let them carry a firearm to defend themselves, I think you’re responsible,” Florida state Rep. Dennis K. Baxley, a Republican, said during debate in a House subcommittee last month. The bill passed.
The sponsor of a bill in Nevada, Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, said in a telephone interview, “If these young, hot little girls on campus have a firearm, I wonder how many men will want to assault them. The sexual assaults that are occurring would go down once these sexual predators get a bullet in their head.”
Bills that would allow guns on campus also have been introduced in Indiana, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.
Opponents say university campuses should remain havens from the gun-related risks that exist elsewhere.
Some experts in sexual assault said college women typically were assaulted by someone they knew, sometimes a friend, so even if they had access to a gun, they rarely would be tempted to use it.
“It reflects a misunderstanding of sexual assaults in general,” said John D. Foubert, an Oklahoma State University professor and national president of One in Four, which provides educational programs on sexual assault to college campuses. “If you have a rape situation, usually it starts with some sort of consensual behavior, and by the time it switches to nonconsensual, it would be nearly impossible to run for a gun.”
Colorado, Wisconsin and seven other states allow people with legal carry permits to take concealed firearms to campus, some with restrictions.
Allow the ladies to carry, after a few of the bastards get shot, the others will think before trying.
I never have been able to understand the phenomenon of collage campus rape. Why are there so many POSs?
Collage suicide too. I was that age a decade plus ago, I never once considered either.
A lot of crummy people get funneled through those places I guess. Just makes you wonder how many rapists we talk to everyday…
As far as gun carry… If they ban guns DONT GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY. and carry a samurai sword instead.