2008 Woodie Awards
Serial Scribblings: Guns on campus: right to self-defense or threat to safety?
Sam Koch '11
Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: Opinion
Darkness had already fallen in Jerusalem when a gunman infiltrated a Jewish seminary and began firing bullets into a library. In a hauntingly familiar story, the shooter killed eight students assembled for class, leaving a trail of utter destruction. According to some Jewish newspapers, however, his rampage was interrupted by the efforts of an armed student, Yitzhak Dadon. Dadon claims that, upon hearing shots in the seminary, he fled to the roof and waited for the killer to emerge; upon seeing him come into view, Dadon claims he shot the killer twice in the head before police arrived.
If true, Dadon's story has been underplayed by the global media, including the American press. Perhaps because of our recent familiarity with campus shootings and our general apprehension about second amendment concerns, the American media is reluctant to print a story portraying an armed student as a hero.
Many students believe that had there been a Yitzhak Dadon at Virginia Tech on the morning of April 16, 2007, lives might have been saved. Despite the fact that safety measures have been instituted in hundreds of colleges in the aftermath of the VT massacre, incidents such as last month's shooting at Northern Illinois University have many students feeling uneasy about being unarmed.
Jeremy Clark is one such student.
Clark, an Army veteran, is a law student at Villanova University. Clark is currently advocating his right to bring his licensed handgun to classes, according to a recent article on philly.com.
He is hardly alone in his wishes. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), a grassroots organization started shortly after the VT tragedy, claims to have amassed 20,000 members in its 10 month existence. SCCC's goal, according to its Web site, is for "State Legislatures [to] recognize our right to defend ourselves on college campuses across the nation."
Although Clark, with other members of SCCC, cites recent campus shootings as the impetus of his campaign, the right to self-defense is one that transcends the current higher education safety crisis. Clark is an example of a citizen seeking to protect the rights granted in the constitutions of both Pennsylvania and the United States. His case, and the cases of students like him, focuses more on the preservation of individual rights than the overall safety of college campuses.
If true, Dadon's story has been underplayed by the global media, including the American press. Perhaps because of our recent familiarity with campus shootings and our general apprehension about second amendment concerns, the American media is reluctant to print a story portraying an armed student as a hero.
Many students believe that had there been a Yitzhak Dadon at Virginia Tech on the morning of April 16, 2007, lives might have been saved. Despite the fact that safety measures have been instituted in hundreds of colleges in the aftermath of the VT massacre, incidents such as last month's shooting at Northern Illinois University have many students feeling uneasy about being unarmed.
Jeremy Clark is one such student.
Clark, an Army veteran, is a law student at Villanova University. Clark is currently advocating his right to bring his licensed handgun to classes, according to a recent article on philly.com.
He is hardly alone in his wishes. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), a grassroots organization started shortly after the VT tragedy, claims to have amassed 20,000 members in its 10 month existence. SCCC's goal, according to its Web site, is for "State Legislatures [to] recognize our right to defend ourselves on college campuses across the nation."
Although Clark, with other members of SCCC, cites recent campus shootings as the impetus of his campaign, the right to self-defense is one that transcends the current higher education safety crisis. Clark is an example of a citizen seeking to protect the rights granted in the constitutions of both Pennsylvania and the United States. His case, and the cases of students like him, focuses more on the preservation of individual rights than the overall safety of college campuses.
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