Kevin Willmott stepped into his classroom at the University of Kansas wearing a bulletproof vest, and his students immediately went silent. He described it as "an audible hush." This was Willmott's way of protesting the gun issue. The legislation for concealed carry, which was passed in 2013, was achieved over the summer at colleges and universities across Kansas. "One of the things I told them was, 'You try to ignore that I’m wearing a bulletproof vest, and I’ll try to ignore that you could be packing a .44 Magnum,'" he said. Willmott cleared up that he is not afraid of his students, but that he thinks that allowing concealed carry on campuses is "a crazy idea." "And I don’t think it’s the students’ job to turn into Rambo try to take on somebody that might be out to do us harm," he explained. "The whole idea is just insane and it can only lead to bad things."
He wrote: "I am a native Kansan having grown up in Junction City and attending college at Marymount College in Salina. It is difficult to adjust my mind to the current policy of handguns covertly being anywhere on campus through the policy of conceal and carry. This is not the Kansas I grew up knowing and loving. The Kansas I grew up in always had a level of moderation. It is in the spirit of that level headedness and restraint that I have decided to wear a bullet proof vest while teaching my courses this year at Kansas University. My hope is that it serves as a constant reminder of firearms becoming a normalized part of campus life.
One of the main elements to this policy that I find disturbing is the covert and undercover nature of the weapons being on campus. No one can know who has a weapon. Thus in the classroom we don’t know who has a gun — perhaps no one does or maybe several people have weapons. We cannot ask and they cannot tell. As well, the policy indicates that the student with the gun “must have the safety on and have no round in the chamber.” Unfortunately, this is an honor system with no one in authority being able to check the gun carrier to see if they are meeting this regulation. The gun carrier is on their own with the gun and as long as the instructor, students or others don’t see the weapon — we must trust them with the weapon."
https://a.msn.com/r/2/AArg0iX?m=en-us
This article, written by Lindsey Bever from The Washington Post this morning, informs the general public about a professor's thoughts and actions regarding the concealed weapon law. It shows how people are affected by this and the discomfort/distrust between staff and students regarding this law.
The things that this subject historically connects to are the many school shootings that have occurred in America. The teachers can't ask who has a weapon nor can they check to see if students have the gun on safety/aren't loaded. There have been teachers leaving colleges to go to other campuses that don't allow concealed carry. This shows how much people fear for themselves by going to the extent of quitting/wearing bulletproof vests to class.
I think this professor made a bold statement wearing a bulletproof vest and I hope it changed the mindsets of some of his students. It really doesn't make sense to me that any one should feel the need to hold a firearm anywhere. I agree with the professor when he says that the student shouldn't be the one to "go all Rambo" on the attacker, it should be the security's job. Also, being able to conceal a weapon on campus could lead to many more attacks on campus.
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