Carl Hiaasen, Miami Herald’s golden boy gets all fire and brimstone against Florida’s Campus Carry bill.
The very first bill being rammed through the Florida House of Representatives this year would allow guns to be carried on college campuses.
This screwball idea comes from Rep. Greg Steube, a young Republican from Sarasota. Remember his name in case he’s ever daft enough to run for statewide office.
In the macho comic-book world where Steube’s imagination dwells, armed college kids will stand ready to whip their pistols out of their book bags and shoot down crazed campus intruders with flawless aim.
via Carl Hiaasen: Lawmakers cooking up recipe for a bloodbath | The Miami Herald The Miami Herald.
And then, not four days after, this happens to two University of Central Florida students:
A UCF student pulled a handgun and fought off burglars that forced their way into her Village of Alafaya Club apartment on Tuesday, according to deputies.
At approximately 4:51 p.m. Tuesday night, two black males in their early 20’s forced their way into the apartment of two UCF students, male and female, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
According to deputies, one of the suspects held a handgun to the male victim’s head and ordered him to the ground. The female victim then ran into her bedroom and got her handgun.The female UCF student then pointed the gun at the suspects. That caused both the suspects to run away and for one suspect to drop his gun, according to deputies
via KnightNews.com » Student Pulls Gun on Burglars Striking UCF Area Apartment, Deputies Say.
Dear Mr. Hiaasen: The days of absolute control of the flow of information by The Media died long ago and it is buried next to the stereotype that women are incapable of defending themselves or their loved ones.
No need to send flowers.
In college, a fraternity brother of mine lived in an off campus apartment. He successfully used his 870 bird gun to persuade a robber that perhaps there were better TVs to steal. The local town paper wrote it up and made copious mention of the fact that a shotgun was involved. The campus paper wrote it up as a robbery was thwarted with no injuries, and made no mention of the firearm involved.
Why is it the anti-rights cultists never mention anyone but “kids” going to college?
it isn’t like there is plenty of evidence showing that nontraditional students aren’t a large percentage of people on campus.
But the reality is that the traditional 18-22 year-old student is now the minority in higher education. According to the National Center for Education Statistics there are 17.6 million undergraduates. Thirty-eight percent of those enrolled in higher education are over the age of 25 and 25 percent are over the age of 30. The share of all students who are over age 25 is projected to increase another twenty-three percent by 2019.
And they never mention that staff, administrators and professors are also prohibited by law from carrying on most campuses.
Guess it never ceases to surprise me the anti-rights cultists never let the truth get in the way of their narrative.
Bob S.
It’s a similar thought as saying that allowing licensed individuals to carry on elementary school grounds is equal to allowing a third-grader to have a gun in school.
Not the same. Not the same at all. There are many more people in a school on a daily basis than just the students. In a college setting, the vast majority are adults (everyone except the occasional home-schooled, graduated-early, getting-a-jump-start-on-college16-17 year old student), and many if not most are over the legal age to get a concealed handgun license. Many even have military service.
Lumping everyone on a college campus into the same group and calling them “kids” is derogatory, stereotypical, and bigoted. Just like everything else the anti-rights crowd says.
But if the libs don’t refer to them as “kids”, how can they say they’re doing it “for the children”?
I was 44 years old the first time I set foot in a college. Most of the guys in the classes I had to take were in their lat 20’s and early 30’s. Older students aren’t all that rare. I may or may not have violated the law by having a firearm in my car.
I think college students should be armed but, with all due respect, using an off-campus incident to illustrate our point makes absolutely no sense. It’s a great illustration of how college students can handle weaponry…but don’t we already know that? Don’t we want to show how an armed person can make a difference in a dorm or in a campus classroom or library? Surely there are examples like these out there.
Let’s stop being lazy and drive home the point that guns anywhere, guns everywhere is a damn good idea. We do it by using relevant case histories and not simply pulling stories out of a hat.
Yes we do, but the un-informed person out there may not hear about the young college student defending herself. According to Hiaasen, she should have shot her companion, herself, drop the gun and then go to a keeger.
Love his books…but unlike him I seem to realize they’re works of fiction.
We need to admit that Hiaasen’ s primary concern is with the criminals. He doesn’t want their opportunities to commit rape, torture, and murder to be restricted.
(Does anyone doubt that would have been the outcome of this case?)