The Case for Concealed Carry on College Campuses

On By Tom LindsayIn CCW, Concealed Carry, Gun Rights, RKBA, SCCC1 Comment

My daughter is a third year student at Georgia Tech. In the past year, I can’t count how many robberies have been reported on campus. There was even a rape of a student on campus right before a football game.

As the new legislative session approaches, the time has come to fight to change Georgia law to allow licensed Georgia Weapons License holders to exercise their right to carry concealed on campus.

It won’t be an easy task. Georgia Tech has a stated policy from 2010 advocating leaving the law where it is. But the arguments they list in this policy, as well as the statistics they quote, are taken right from the Brady Campaign, and they are easily refuted.

Here is the heart of the issue: when people hear that we want to allow concealed carry in campus, they immediately assume we want to allow every college student to carry a gun.

But the law guiding concealed carry on Georgia, and in every state that allows it, limits licenses to those 21 years or older. So, students younger than 21 would not be allowed to carry in any case.

In fact, the majority of those who would be eligible to carry concealed on campus would not be students at all, but faculty and staff? How many of them would be carrying guns? Who knows?

A criminal, like the one who shot up the Virginia Tech campus in 2007, doesn’t care about the law. They are are going to break the law in any case, either by robbing someone at gunpoint, or by shooting someone. What does breaking one more law matter to them?

It turns out that the main deterrent to an armed attack on campus, as it is anywhere, is the unknown. The criminal, who doesn’t care about breaking gun laws in the commission of other crimes, does care about being shot in the commission of that crime. And since they don’t know which of their intended victims or bystanders might be able and willing to fight back, they choose not to attempt the crime at all.

Please join me in supporting Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and Georgia Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.

Two Less Things To Worry About

On By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized3 Comments

Some time back, the state of Florida enacted a law to prevent doctors from asking patients whether they had guns in the home. I’m not going to discuss whether doctors were doing this because of their concern for patient safety or because of the well known anti-gun leanings of the American Medical Association.

I’ve had contact with several doctors about this, and the ones I chatted with seemed genuinely interested in patient safety, and the rest of their practice reflected that. For instance, they had lots of information on other child safety issues like swimming pools and car seats.

Then there is my own doctor. When I first moved to this area, I picked him because he was the closest family practitioner and because he’s my age. I want a doctor my own age, or a little older, because I want him or her to believe me when I come in with some new ailment. The youngsters might not.

But I noticed a lack of patient safety brochures in the waiting room, and there were no outdoors magazines, much less hunting or firearms magazines. Yes, he asked on the patient information form whether I had a gun in the home, be I decided not to answer, and he never asked about it.

So, I didn’t know his stance on gun issues, since it’s never come up in the 9 years I’ve been his patient.

Nevertheless, when I went to see him last week for a regular checkup, I decided to ask him to check my blood lead levels, since I do shot indoors on occasion. I wanted him to know why, so I told him I did some target shooting indoors. This led to a small surprise, as he agreed, and told me owned a .357 magnum revolver himself.

He then told me to be sure to wear my hearing protection all the time, and told me how he used to shoot without hearing protection with his uncle when he was in high school, and had suffered some hearing loss in one ear as a result. I told him I have always used ear plugs or muffs, and indoors I use both.

So, that was that. They took my blood, and I found out later that my level was 15 micrograms/dL, which is in the normal range. So, add that to what I found out about whether my doctor is anti-gun, and I guess that’s two less things to worry about.

So Much To Do

On By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized3 Comments

To say it has been a busy few months for us would be an understatement. So many things have brought us to this point that it’s hard to know where to start.

I’m a carpenter by trade, and I got engaged a few months ago to a wonderful girl. Our families arranged it, as usual, but I got lucky. She’s beautiful, and she’s smart, and she’s happy.

And, it turns out, she’s pregnant.

I know the baby isn’t mine, and, knowing the girl and her family, I know she had never been with any man before we met.

But even after I found out she was pregnant, she seems so happy and so confident that I have to believe her story. Her cousin had a baby a year ago, many years past the time when women should be having babies. The hand of God is with them both.

But, on top of what we’re going through, the emperor decides he wants a census taken, and he wants the count done in everyone’s home town. What can we do? My family roots are in Bethlehem, so we go.

Normally, two people on the road from Galilee to Bethlehem would be easy pickings for bands of robbers. But everyone is on the road, north and south, and we’ve been able to stay safe.

We arrived in town this morning, and right away I knew lodging would be a problem. I was right. There are no rooms anywhere in town.

But the last innkeeper I talked to is going to let us stay in his stable, so at least we have somewhere to sleep.

Now, riding on a donkey can make anyone sore, but it seems like this may be more than that. The baby may be on its way.

If the baby is born here, we’ll be here for months. I’m grateful to be a carpenter, because I can find work anywhere, and support my family. But there is still so much to do, and so many questions.

But most of all, tonight, I trust God.

Stadium Snipers

On By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized

You know they exist, but we never see them.

Check out this video that I found courtesy of RomeoTangoBravo.

My only comment is that I find it irresponsible for any of these snipers not to be using suppressors, as much for their own comfort and protection as for tactical reasons. After all, why assume there is no opposition? At the least, consider the surrounding bystanders.