Kaitlyn Hart
Life Editor
Last Monday afternoon, I decided it was time to treat myself. I had made it through four weeks of school and things were going pretty good, so my plan was to drive down to Starbucks and reward myself with an ice-cold, white tea lemonade.
As I was driving down S. 5th Ave., I happened to look over to my left, when I saw something that the majority of Americans hope and pray every night that they don’t have to see when they walk out their front door. There was an older man in a light blue t-shirt, handing a rifle to a younger male who could’ve been no older than 22. The younger man was wearing a striped beanie and a t-shirt down past his hips, the two men looking as if they were discovering this gun for the first time and trying to figure out how it works.
Now if you’re a Pocatello native, you might realize that S. 5th Ave., is directly across from the Idaho State University campus, which is what set a second set of alarm bells off in my head yelling, “Gun near campus!” after the first set of alarm bells just screamed, “Gun!”
Growing up for the past 20 years, I have become very well-versed with the phrase, “if you see something, say something.” So, I decided to circle the block to get another look before calling the police. On my way back past the scene, I noticed that someone had beat me to it. It appeared that two cop cars had already shown up to the area, filling me with relief but also the normal sense of paranoia that many students feel when they’re on campus in this day and age.
It’s something that takes a lot of effort to put out of your mind, the possibility that you could be severely injured or killed due to gun violence while sitting in a classroom, trying to better yourself and further your education.
I had no idea that only five years ago, a gun went off on this very campus in one of our very own classrooms. According to the Washington Post, “A professor at Idaho State University in Pocatello accidentally fired his concealed gun Wednesday, shooting himself in the foot.”
This incident happened only mere months after Gov. Butch Otter signed into effect, a bill that allowed for weapons to be carried on college campuses, when the person has a concealed carry permit.
Witnesses said that the gun was in the professors pocket when it went off in the middle of class, shocking everyone in the room, and ultimately injuring the professor.
This incident in itself showed perfectly clear how dangerous it is to allow any type of weapon on campus.
In our editors meeting on Monday, we were discussing the idea of open-carry on campus and trying to come up with a clear angle for this story. Talking about concealed carry, our Editor-in-Chief, Logan Ramsey said, “I mean, I don’t think you guys would feel very comfortable if I was standing up here in front of you with an AR-15 slung around my back.” We all unanimously agreed that no, we wouldn’t feel comfortable if anyone was in the room with a rifle slung around their body.
I know that’s a small sample size for talking about an issue that affects so many people of so many different walks of life, but in my experience, I have never spoken about gun control with a single student who would feel comfortable knowing that their teacher was strapped during class.
Ideally, I would like to go to school with the knowledge that I will not have to see any firearms. I would like to go to school knowing with 100% certainty that me and everyone I see everyday is going to leave happy, healthy and alive.
Knowing that anyone around me could potentially not only possess, but legally carry a firearm on campus, is bone-chilling. School is supposed to be a place of growth and expansion, not fatalities and bullet-casings.
Translation: “I saw a perfectly legal activity because because I am a brainwashed twat and scared of my own shadow, I freaked out. My lack of intelligence makes it impossible for me to even recognize that I saw a gun near a college campus…and no one was shot! Gee, maybe one day I’ll be a big girl and recognize that maybe guns aren’t the problem after all.”
Jenny Lingle complains that she suddenly under stands that Americans carry guns in daily life, and as usual, as in this case, no weapon was fired. Good work Jenny!
But now please acquaint yourself with the fact that Americans “have the right to keep and carry guns in case of confrontation”(see Heller Supreme Court case holding).
And Learn more at Open Carry.org. And carry on!
Thank you so much for writing this article. As an idaho State alum, I could not agree more. It’s time reason prevails over fear filled dogmas.