fbpx
33.9 F
Spokane
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeCommentaryShould Gonzaga allow students living on campus to carry guns?

Should Gonzaga allow students living on campus to carry guns?

Date:

Related stories

My Journey through Homelessness Part Five: Learning to Live Outside the Box

The value of my homeless experience lies not so much in having learned how to live outside — at least not in the geographical sense. The value of my homeless experience lies in having learned how to live outside the box.

Lost in Translation: Isn’t It Time We Moved Beyond a Fear-Based Repentance?

When I hear the kingdom is at hand, followed immediately by the command to repent, the good news is overshadowed by the fear that I’m not good enough to be part of the kingdom of God.

Inspiring Others: How Our Marriage Turned 50

As we prepare to celebrate 50 years there are so many thoughts and memories going through my head. I have joked about how I don't know how you've put up with me for this long, which is really true in a sense with my Irish enthusiasm and temper.

Taking the Road ‘Less Traveled by’ Has Made ‘All the Difference’

Pete Haug remembers hearing Robert Frost read his poem "The Road not Taken" 65 years ago. It reminded him of his spiritual journey out of the Christianity of his youth into choosing the Baha'i faith as an adult.

Ask an EOC: Can You Confess in Private to God but not in Church Confession and be Forgiven?

Concerning the sacrament of Confession, Christ directly gave the authority to his Church to remit or retain the sins of the penitent. 

Our Sponsors

spot_img
spot_img

WIK_111113_glockTwo Gonzaga students have been put on probation after using a pistol to drive an intruder from their on-campus apartment.

The confrontation made national headlines and is prompting Gonzaga to review its weapons policy.

On Oct.24 a homeless man came try to force his way inside Erik Fagan and Daniel McIntosh’s apartment. Fagan, 21, reportedly scared the man away with a a loaded 10 mm Glock pistol. He has a concealed weapons permit.

When campus security arrived at the scene, the gun was confiscated.

Students are not allowed to have guns in their homes if they live on campus or in a university-owned apartment. The university discipline board on Friday found Fagan and McIntosh responsible for two violations: possessing weapons on school grounds and putting others in danger by the use of weapons, according to news reports.

What do you think? Should GU allow students living on campus to carry guns?

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Tracy Simmons
Tracy Simmons
Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of FāVS.News, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.

Our Sponsors

spot_img
spot_img
spot_img

6 COMMENTS

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Jim Downard
10 years ago

I voted a provisional “yes” with the following caveats. If it is the case that security is inadequate for non-dorm residences, and as it is legal to own guns (though how about some mandatory safety training and appropriate registration, as we do with cars–darn, the IRA may be down on me for that one), then perhaps appropriate leeway should be given for such situations. I’m not a gunowner myself, so have no dog in this hunt, but it would seem there are situations where the legally obtained firearm ought to be available for the purpose for which it was intended, no?

An interesting world we have where one may migrate gun in hand to and from the gun free Gonzaga and Starbucks.

Charlie Byers
Charlie Byers
10 years ago

Point of vocabulary: the question, as worded, is whether students should be allowed to “carry” guns, but in gun-land, ‘carrying’ usually implies actually leaving your home with a weapon in an accessible holster, pocket, etc, which didn’t happen in this example. I’m comfortable answering ‘no’ to that question, but on GU forbidding students to keep guns in their apartments, I’m more conflicted. Given the choice between storing a gun in a rental storage space somewhere or keeping it in my own closet, I think it would be more responsible to keep it at home, where I’d at least know if it went missing.

Eric Blauer
10 years ago

If they have housing provided without security, in the neighborhood that has a documented history of violence, especially against women, the rule needs amending.

If there had been an attempted rape and a young woman fended off this felon with a pistol, than I’m sure the dialogue would be different.

I’m feeling a rub of reverse sexism in this whole thing.

Charlie Byers
Charlie Byers
10 years ago
Reply to  Eric Blauer

Eric, I imagine the ‘reaction’ comes down to the fact that there’s a police report that makes it clear the students were in violation of the written policy. If the students were women, maybe the public reaction would have been more sympathetic, but I’d hardly call that sexism.
This is the hazard of trying to over-regulate and selectively enforce; Sometimes you have to enforce a stupid rule to save face.

Eric Blauer
10 years ago

I celebrate that good news that no young people were harmed, violated, murdered, raped or burglarized by this convict. They exercised mature restraint, nobody was shot or killed.

Goodness, if it was my boys I’d be so grateful. If my daughter was next door and I’d be thankful too.

spot_img
6
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x