http://www.dmcantor.com/blog Earlier this year Arizona experienced a horrible tragedy in Tucson when Jared Laughner shot and killed numerous people at a public meeting coordinated by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Since then the debate for allowing guns on campus has heated up significantly with proponents citing Utah as a poster child for allowing guns on campus. Recently a Professor at Arizona State University came up with his own method for handling this issue by simply not allowing students with weapons to attend his classes. David M Cantor, a Phoenix DUI Lawyer, discusses this technique in todays video.
What do you think?
Read more at the http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2011/03/19/2011031... Arizona Republic:
"I moved to Arizona three years ago to direct the Origins Project at what is becoming one of the most dynamic institutions of higher education in the country, Arizona State University.
Our successes are now at risk as some members of the state Legislature seem bent on leading Arizona backward in matters of both higher education and business investment, while risking the safety of the university community.
Less than two months after the tragic shooting near Tucson, the Legislature is debating Senate Bill 1467, which will forbid the governing board of an educational institution from adopting or enforcing a policy that prohibits the possession of concealed weapons by students or faculty, as long as they have a permit.
All this, despite the fact that the chief law-enforcement officers of the three state universities in Arizona have come out strongly against the law.
They all voice the same concern: Law-enforcement officials entering any area of possible conflict in which numerous individuals are carrying guns will not be able to determine who the perpetrator is.
In addition, they are aware that all but highly trained weapons experts tend to miss their targets, so that use of weapons on campus is likely to result in injury or fatalities to innocent bystanders.
This pending legislation is already having a chilling effect. The Origins Project has brought the world's preeminent scholars to campus over the past three years. However, we are now getting e-mails from several prominent academics who are concerned about lecturing in locations in which some students may carry weapons.
If SB 1467 is signed into law, despite overwhelming faculty, parent and student objections, we who work at the university will have difficult choices to make about our future.
I have come up with a plan, however, which I hope obviates at least some of the most odious impacts of this legislation.
First, throughout the university, we now try to maintain an intellectual atmosphere that promotes open inquiry and questioning. For this reason, I now tell students they should not bring calculators or skateboards to my classroom.
No matter what the form of any final legislation is, I will have the same policy for weapons in my classroom. Outside classrooms, I will adopt a policy of refusing to interact with or host events with students who have indicated they intend to carry weapons on campus.
I view this as an issue of academic freedom, and I believe that achieving the proper atmosphere of intellectual inquiry is an essential part of such freedom.
Nevertheless, there may be some legal challenge to my actions. Should it be successful, I have another plan, and I am recommending both proposals to others.
I plan to register a disability with the university: an uncontrollable fear of guns in public places.
This didn't used to be a disability that affected me, but I will make it clear that I cannot function properly in my role as a teacher and researcher in the presence of firearms on campus. I will request that students be informed that because of this, only those not carrying weapons can register for my classes.
There is an irony here. Bars and restaurants that serve alcohol can ban the presence of firearms. However, although the Legislature trusts students with handguns, they do not feel they can drink responsibly and legally, so the campus is alcohol-free.
If this were not the case, the Arizona Board of Regents would seem within its rights to refuse to allow guns on campus.
Whether or not my civil disobedience will work, it is important, as we consider how to ensure our safety and our students' safety on campuses, that we also consider how we can protect ourselves against a potentially more invasive threat: the reckless shortsightedness of some of our own elected officials.
Lawrence M. Krauss is foundation professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University. His newest book, "Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science" is being released this month."
Loading...
1:25
Lawrence Krauss' demolishing argument against Intelligent Designby IloveYOUviruses5,742 views
Yeah I completely agree with the professor. Guns on campus destroys academic freedom. Who in their right mind would voice a disagreement with someone in a classroom who they thought might pull out a gun and kill them? College campuses are not the kind of place for this type of threat.
Gavinator777 1 week ago
Sounds AOK with me if the professor will hire armed security for his class.
kelvinjavier 4 months ago
Guy sounds more like an ass trying to control his little world
45acpreloading 6 months ago
This is the same kind of childish acting out that occurs every time we advance gun rights. Like toddlers they have to have a tantrum. Soon this professor will be fired and students with permits will carry if they wish. This is a right and not something some buffoon can ban just because he doesn't like it. University professors have learned to tolerate having people with brown skin in their classrooms and you will learn to tolerate gun owners.
texaliendroid 8 months ago
@richarcm
Nigeria, Jamaica, Haiti and most of the most violent nations ban guns.
texaliendroid 8 months ago
It's not "his" class!!! He works for the school, who in turn is paid by the students and i am sure, the State. If he rented the classroom, under his own business entity, then maybe he would be justified in enacting "his own rules". I would hope he has a large liability insurance policy, in case the next radical jihadist or homegrown terrorist/crazy comes to his class because they know everyone in there are easy targets, thanks to his "no gun in class rule"!!!
vonbechtel40 9 months ago
no seeing eye dogs in the class room no medical aleart bracelets no jewish caps no catholic caps no illegals no children(10 year old guinesses) no pregnant teens(18-19 year olds) would'nt a scakeboard be a resonable means of transportation ---don't we have the right to travle? BET THIS GUY WOULD ALLOW MEDICAL POT IN HIS (?) CLASS ROOM AND TO BE SMOKED DURING CLASS he will what give you a TSA full body search? Personly I would not let poeple with open foot where in class yeak!
TheMaskaz 9 months ago
Criminals prefer helpless victims!
A-HUMAN-RIGHT . com
GunOwnerDan 10 months ago
This professor saying he will illegally prevent otherwise lawful students from entering his class while legally carrying a gun is NO DIFFERENT than saying he will not allow blacks at his lunch counter.
The civil rights movement isn't dead, it's just been turned upside down and dropped by libtards when they disagree with the particular civil right being demanded.
ehtnam 11 months ago
As for his theory that he can tell students "you can have a skateboard outside of class just not IN the class. you can have a calculator ... you can have a cell phone ..."
Professor, please show me an Arizona state law (much less a US Constitutional Amendment) that guarantees a citizen's right to carry a skateboard, calculator, or cell phone ANYWHERE?
ehtnam 11 months ago