Last week, I received numerous requests for a column responding to the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech. I had almost decided against writing one when I read the following letter to the editor in the local Wilmington McTimes:
On the day of the Virginia Tech massacre, President Bush’s spokesperson told the press, “… The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed. …”
In effect, Bush sent this stern message to mass murderers:
We’ll make sure that the weapons you need are freely available. Be warned, however, that if you shoot dozens of people before killing yourself, you will have a crime on your police record.
The letter, written by UNC-Wilmington English Professor Richard Veit, says three things: 1. Dick Veit does not like George W. Bush. 2. Dick Veit does not like guns. 3. Dick Veit does not like to make serious comments on very serious subjects.
Since I think there’s a way to prevent tragedies like last week’s shooting at Virginia Tech, I decided to write about this topic with the hope that my good speech will help cancel out Dick Veit’s very bad speech. I suspect that many people on both ends of the political spectrum will agree with at least some things I have to say.
My view on how to alter gun laws to prevent another shooting like the one at Virginia Tech was inspired by a recent change in North Carolina gun laws. Our state decided that individuals who have a concealed carry license (CCW) do not have to obtain a pistol purchase permit in order to obtain a handgun. Instead, we are allowed to buy handguns as long as we have a valid CCW, which must be renewed every five years.
Because there are two ways to buy a handgun in North Carolina (with a CCW or with a one-time pistol purchase permit) there are two types of people who are able to buy guns; 1) Those with a CCW who have been subjected to criminal background checks, have released full medical and psychiatric records, and have taken a firearms safety course. 2) Those who obtained a purchase permit by submitting to a criminal background check, without releasing medical and psychiatric records, and without taking a firearms safety course.
At this point in the column I’m ready to unleash the first three steps in my four-step proposal for preventing mass killings on college campuses. The first two steps will not surprise my readers but the third will:
All states should allow citizens to apply for a CCW.
All states should allow those with a CCW to buy guns without a separate pistol purchase permit.
All states should eliminate pistol purchase permits immediately.
By eliminating pistol purchase permits and allowing only those of us with a CCW to purchase a handgun, there will be no more guns sold legally to those with a history of mental problems who have not yet committed their first crime. And it should be some consolation to the gun control crowd that it takes about 90 days to obtain a CCW in North Carolina. The pistol purchase permit only takes about a week
Under my plan, all legally sold guns will wind up in the hands of psychologically stable non-criminals with at least some formal training in the use of the weapon they have purchased. The liberals should like my plan so far. But they won’t like my fourth step:
All states should re-write their gun laws so that CCW holders are allowed to carry concealed weapons on college campuses.
Earlier this semester, a student asked me why the bank located across the street from UNC-Wilmington has been robbed so many times, despite the fact that it is located right across the street from the university. I responded by telling him that it had been robbed so many times because it is located right across the street from the university.
Think about it for a moment. If you want to rob a bank successfully you would be wise to pick a bank across the street from a crowded university campus. After putting your gun in a backpack like most students wear, you could time the robbery so that you are done around the time classes let out. As long you make it across the street after putting your gun in the backpack you can blend together with tens of thousands of students who are also wearing backpacks.
And the best part of it – from the robber’s perspective – is that the college campus is the only large area in town where the armed robber only has to worry about the armed policeman and not the armed citizen. Under my plan, we would change the campus to a place that is more welcoming to the CCW holder than it is to the armed robber.
Our campuses need to be more than just “safe zones” for blacks, feminists, and homosexuals. They need to be zones protected by the gun-safety-educated, psychologically stable, non-criminals in our society.
I hope everyone reading this column will do his civic duty to obtain a CCW and learn how to carry responsibly. There are a lot of thoughtless Richards out there who need us to protect them.
Dr. Mike S. Adams bought his first Sig Sauer firearm just minutes after reading the letters to the editor in the Saturday Wilmington McTimes.
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Mike S. Adams was born in Columbus, Mississippi on October 30, 1964. While a student at Clear Lake High School in Houston, TX, his team won the state 5A soccer championship. Mike Adams graduated from C.L.H.S. in 1983 with a 1.8 GPA. Mike Adams was ranked 734 among a class of 740, largely as a result of flunking English all four years of high school. After obtaining an Associate's degree in psychology from San Jacinto College, Mike Adams moved on to Mississippi State University where he joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity. While living in the fraternity house, his GPA rose to 3.4, allowing him to finish his B.A., and then to pursue a Master's in Psychology. In 1990, Mike Adams turned down a chance to pursue a PhD in psychology from the University of Georgia, opting instead to remain at Mississippi State to study Sociology/Criminology. This decision was made entirely on the basis of his reluctance to quit his night job as member of a musical duo. Playing music in bars and at fraternity parties and weddings financed his education. Mike Adams also played for free beer.
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Upon getting his doctorate in 1993, Adams, then an atheist and a Democrat, was hired by UNC-Wilmington to teach in the criminal justice program. A few years later, Adams abandoned his atheism and also became a Republican. He also nearly abandoned teaching when he took a one-year leave of absence to study law at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1998. After returning to teach at UNC-Wilmington, Adams won the Faculty Member of the Year award (issued by the Office of the Dean of Students) for the second time in 2000.
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After his involvement in a well publicized free speech controversy in the wake of the 911 terror attacks, Adams became a vocal critic of the diversity movement in academia. After making appearances on shows like Hannity and Colmes, the O'Reilly Factor, and Scarborough Country, Adams was asked to write a column for Townhall.com.
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Today Mike Adams enjoys the privilege of expressing himself both as a teacher and a writer. Mike Adams is also an avid hunter and reader of classic literature. Mike Adams published his first book, Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel, in 2004. His second book, Feminists Say the Darndest Things: A Politically Incorrect Professor Confronts "Womyn" On Campus, was published in 2008.
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