THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 3A
CONCEALED CARRY
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Dole hosts debate about gun control on campus
Patricia Stoneking, the president of the Kansas State Rifle Association (KSRA), reacts to Allen Rostron, a law professor at the University of Missouri, on the topic of regulated gun control Wednesday night at the Gun Control: Freedom vs Safety debate inside the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics. The event was put on by the Dole Institute of Politics Student Advisory Board and covered various issues in gun control along with a Q&A session.
MARSHALL SCHMIDT mschmidt@kansan.com
With concealed carry permits on campus approved by the Kansas legislature this past Tuesday, students learned more about gun policy issues in a debate hosted at The Dole Institute of Politics Wednesday evening. The debate between Patricia Stoneking, President of the Kansas State Rifle Association, and Allen Rostron, professor of law at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, addressed different sides of the arguments for and against gun control.
"If your fellow students are carrying guns, you're going to want to be informed about the different rights and restrictions that go along with that privilege," said Lexie Clark, coordinator of the Student Advisory Board for the Dole Institute. Clark, a senior from Fort Collins, Colo., moderated the debate.
While Clark is personally in favor of gun advocacy, she found Rostron's representation of gun control position an example of reaching middle ground between the two sides.
"To some extent, these issues do turn on the extent to how people feel about the government," Rostron said. "Gun rights are very strongly protected, and I just don't see we are on the verge of confiscation if we were to have a gun registration system."
Stoneking pointed to the historical example of gun registration and confiscation in Hitler's Germany as a reason to protect gun rights, and advocated more attention be applied to the mental health community.
"Bad people do bad things, and
mentally ill people do bad things." Stoneking said. "The tool that they use is not what's doing something bad. It is the person who's doing something bad."
"We've heard over and over again at colleges where they've had violence is these students say, 'if only I had a gun.' Stoneking.
While Stoneking said concealed carry on campus cannot be proven to improve campus safety due to most university campus's not yet
allowing permits, she did point to Utah's college campuses, which do allow conceal carry permits, have had no problems.
looked at the issue of conceal carry on campus, but that a person's perspective on the issue largely depends on their preconceived attitude.
"All that statistical evidence that's been generated about guns never changes anyone's mind." Rostron said of one study analyzing how
Rostron said few studies have
statistics affect a person's view on gun control. "Instead, people's attitudes about guns are very heavily driven by some fundamental underlying views that they have about the role of government in relationship between people and society."
Edited by Tyler Conover
Earth Day 2013 is Monday. KU is a very energy and sustainability conscious place. In the last year, KU offered 389 sustainability related courses from 34 different departments.
POLICE REPORTS
NATION
Information based on the Douglas County Sheriff's Office booking recap.
- A 28-year-old male was arrested yesterday on the 2200 block of Marvonne Road on suspicion of domestic battery. No bond was posted.
- A 28-year-old female was arrested yesterday on the 2200 block of Marvonne Road on suspicion of domestic battery. No bond was posted.
- A 21-year-old female was arrested yesterday on the 4100 block of 24th Place on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence. A $500 bond was paid.
Emily Donovan
- A 30-year-old male was arrested yesterday on the 100 block of Pine Haven Connect on suspicion of domestic battery and battery. No bond was posted.
"It was like being in a tornado," the
WACO, Texas — An explosion Wednesday night at a fertilizer plant near Waco sent flames shooting high into the night sky, leaving the factory a smoldering ruin, causing major damage to nearby buildings and injuring numerous people.
Waco fertilizer plant explosion injures many
area across town near the plant, which is near a nursing home. She said she drove over to see what was happening, and that when she got out of her car two boys ran toward her screaming that the authorities told them to leave because the plant was going to explode. She said she drove about a block before the blast happened.
The blast at the plant in West, a community north of Waco, happened shortly before 8 p.m. and could be heard as far away as Waxahachie, 45 miles north of West.
Debby Marak told The Associated Press that when she finished teaching her religion class Wednesday night, she noticed a lot of smoke coming from the
58-year-old said by phone. "Stuff was flying everywhere. It blew out my windshield."
She drove 10 blocks and called her husband and asked him to come get her. When they got to their home about 2 miles south of town, her husband told her what he'd seen: a huge fireball that rose like "a mushroom cloud."
More than two hours after the blast, there were still fires smoldering in what was left of the plant and others burning in nearby buildings. In aerial footage from Dallas' NBC affiliate, WDFW, dozens of emergency vehicles could be seen amassed at the scene. Entry into West was slow-going, as the roads were jammed with emergency vehicles rushing
in to help out.
Authorities set up a staging area on the local high school's football field, which was lit up with floodlights. Ambulances and several dozen injured people could be seen being taken away or seated in wheelchairs as they are treated and await transport.
Associated Press