University of Missouri associate professor of law Royce de R. Barondes has placed himself at the forefront of the gun rights debate with a lawsuit challenging the ban on guns on campuses in the state. The lawsuit follows the gunning down of history professor Ethan Schmidt on the Delta State University campus. Schmidt was unarmed and Barondes does not intend to go so easily, it appears.
Barondes has a concealed carry permit and reportedly “teaches a course on firearms law.”
At issue is Amendment 5 of the state constitution which was passed in 2014 and declares the right to keep and bear arms “unalienable” and imposes a “strict scrutiny” test for any prohibition against carrying guns for self-defense. That right is clearly in conflict with the University of Missouri bans on “the possession of firearms on university property . . . except in regularly approved programs or by university agents or employees in the line of duty.” Yet, a conflict does not mean that it is unconstitutional. The university could still prevail under a strict scrutiny analysis, though the test is the most difficult to satisfy.
The case could present some interesting factual and causal questions. Various states have allowed concealed carry on campuses. These include Utah (across the state), Colorado (at the two Colorado State University campuses — in Fort Collins and Pueblo and 14 Colorado community colleges), Mississippi, and Idaho. This will allow the challengers to cite no significant increase in violence as a counter argument to the rationale for the ban. The challengers have also cited studies by the National Academy of Sciences and the Harvard Injury Control Research Center showing no causal connection between conceal carry and increased violence.
The universities could argue that the presence of guns is inimical to the environment of academic exchange, creating fears and anxiety for some students and faculty. The counter argument is that this is a constitutional right, like free speech, and that preference of some to bar the right is not sufficient to satisfy a strict scrutiny test.
Both sides will argue that they are fulfilling the motto of Ole Mizzou: Salus populi suprema lex esto (“Let the Welfare of the People be the Supreme Law”)
What do you think?
Personally, I hate gun free zones. It always seems to be the universities that strip the rights of free speech and the right of self defense. I hope the professor wins his lawsuit. It would be a win for the people.
I don’t have a problem with bringing a gun inside a bar, or to a ball game. Responsible people behave responsibly. It’s not the venue, but the person. — The flip side is that people walking to or from those venues are left without a means of defending themselves or others.
Off-duty police officers carry into ball games and bars. They even have a beer or two. They drink responsibly. (At least, the overwhelming majority of them do.)
“So, let’s take an environment where drinking is done to excess, sexual coercion is de riguer, emotional stress and feelings of self worth are tested routinely, self confidence can be destroyed by a bad grade, most of the participants are poorly raised, etc, and then let’s arm them.”
Thank you isaac for identifying the two most important arguments against gun control:
1. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.
2. Bad actors won’t be deterred by gun control; which means your good actors will be the only unarmed people on campus.
Nicely done!
Jack-
Thank you for the correction. I should have confirmed that before I shot off my mouth.
steve and jack w/ good comments reflecting the intent of the 2nd Amendment. I know it’s counter intuitive for those who hate/fear guns. But, guns in the hands of good people will help stop those bad people w/ guns. It has been shown too many times relying on the govt.[cops] to protect us and our children is futile. Gun free zones are becoming shooting galleries for the bad people w/ guns. Guns are not good or bad. People are good or bad vis a vis guns. I totally support a ban on guns in places that serve alcohol. Drinking can turn a good gun owner into a bad one.
When you take away the means/right of self-defense, it then becomes incumbent upon the authority imposing such a restriction to provide adequate security for those affected. We saw this in the church in Charleston, South Carolina.
On the University of Missouri, Columbia Campus, those with a concealed carry permit can carry, just not inside any of the buildings. However, there is no means of secure storage outside of those buildings.
Far too many weapons are being stolen from vehicles where carrying inside of a venue is prohibited.
We don’t have a problem of concealed carry permit holders killing innocent people.
On this issue, I split from my liberal brethren. I support the right to carry anytime and anywhere, except when under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
And it seems to me, schools offer a rather heightened risk of danger these days when one is unarmed. No?
Restrict where people can carry and only outlaws (including those in and controlling our government) will carry there.
You only have to be 19 to obtain a permit to carry concealed in Missouri. – You have to be 21 to purchase a pistol, but you can be given one when younger.
is there a group of people more paranoid and braggadocios than law professors? Don’t allow those clowns to have guns if law students are not allowed to.
There you have it, shred the Constitution and create a Politburo that will decide what freedoms are “good” for the masses. Finally, we are seeing the dangerous mindset. Of course, because of free speech, they can say these things. Try going to Cuba and saying anti-govt. screeds. The Pope did not say a word about all the political prisoners in Cuba. Castro thugs arrested dissidents and didn’t even allow them to attend a mass. But, the Pope was silent. He will be lecturing us today on our evils. He will be visiting US prisoners.
great post
The Science Geek
http://www.thesciencegeek.org
I agree with ninnian, isaac and annie. The Constitution is an archaic document, born of racist, sexist, homophobic, white men in order to create a country of violence and discrimination that has no place in modern times. It needs to replaced by a living document, one that reflects the evolving morals of the America peoples and that can be updated frequently by simple majority vote of the entire (not merely “adult”) population, regardless of citizenship status.
It’s only when America is ruled by the wishes of the majority that America can achieve enlightened self-government. I mean, who else has the wisdom to define what the laws ought to be except those who will be governed by those laws?
isaac-
Did you not read that many schools already allow this and haven’t seen their campuses turn into free-fire zones? You have to be 21 to carry concealed legally, which means that relatively few students will even be able to.
“Almost 90 people on average lose their lives each day – and more than 250 are injured every hour – due to drunk driving, not wearing a seatbelt, and the many other factors associated with traffic crashes,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman.
Let’s ban cars.
“…selfish interests of personal freedom…”
You’re certainly free to relocate to a nation where the concept of personal freedom doesn’t exist. I hear Venezuela is nice this time of year.
I think campuses hate the 1st and 2nd Amendments. This ties in w/ the France post. ALL DISSENT MUST BE CRUSHED. Stalin and Mao are proud of you Progressives. It took you mopes awhile, but you finally saw that this free speech thing and this allowing people to protect themselves is antithetical to total domination.
Good luck changing the gun culture in America. It’s part of the right wing mentality, deep in it’s heart and down to it’s toes. It’s a sick game, this love of deadly power in one’s hands. Yes, if only…
So, let’s take an environment where drinking is done to excess, sexual coercion is de riguer, emotional stress and feelings of self worth are tested routinely, self confidence can be destroyed by a bad grade, most of the participants are poorly raised, etc, and then let’s arm them. Yeah, let’s throw some guns in with the mix.
If only, when only, Americans realize how stupid they are concerning guns…..
If only, when only, Americans realize how stupid they are concerning health care insurance and the medical industry….
If only, when only, Americans realize how stupid they are concerning the basic springboard to life, public education…..
If only……
Handling an exam grading dispute between the Professor and a student at twelve noon on the college campus might look like this.
What do I think?
Every year, 17,000 people are killed in America, 70 per cent of them with guns, and nearly 20,000 people commit suicide by shooting themselves to death in the home – where a gun is readily to hand in the cupboard.
Almost half of all US households have a gun stored as easily as the knives and forks, the bed linen and the toothpaste. People are shot at work, at school, at the supermarket, at bus stops, or even at the front door if they ring the bell at an inconvenient time. In the whole world, only Colombia has a worse record.
The slaughter of children by gunfire in the United States is 25 times the rate of the 20 next largest industrial countries in the world combined. If you add them all up, since the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King in 1968, well over a million Americans, children and adults, have been shot to death, and even now 80 people die in this manner every day.
What do I think?
I think America is in a mess. I think the constitution was ill conceived and that the country such that it is or isn’t would be safer if run on the lines of Canada.
What do I think?
I think that the majority want gun control and are being thwarted by those with selfish interests of personal freedom and ulterior motives.
What do I think?
I think it us time to take back their United States from these gangsters and make it fit for the Land of the Free.
What do I think?
America is a young pseudo- country not yet 300 years old. It is going through the infancy of the “terrible threes” and needs the self discipline of true democracy which it is yet to embrace.
Only when government of the people by the people becomes a reality, will the stain of the Right to Bear Arms remove it’s shadow from a Nation that has lost its Soul.
So everyone join the NRA and eject these people….
That’s what I think….