The schoolhouse massacre in Uvalde seems like Groundhog Day for many of us who have grown up in an America where mass shootings litter the front pages of newspapers across the country on a near constant basis.
Students at universities and K-12 schools alike watch in horror as school after school falls victim to a mass casualty event enabled by a gun.
Here at Louisiana State University—In response to a lack of female representation on our university’s governing board—Gov. Edwards appointed Laurie Lipsey Aronson, CEO of Lipsey’s, one of the largest firearms distributors in the country, to the Board of Supervisors.
While Lipsey’s does not sell direct to consumers, it does play a large role in the supply chain of dangerous semi-automatic weapons that we have seen used in mass shootings repeatedly throughout the lives of many of students whose interests she is supposed to advance.
Over six million guns have been sold in Louisiana since 2000—the year since which most students on campus have been born.
Louisiana ranks second in the nation for gun deaths per capita in 2020, with 26.3 gun deaths per 100,000 residents.
Yet, Laurie Lipsey Aronson sits on the university’s Board of Supervisors and her father, Richard Lipsey, the former head of the company, remains as a fixture in university admin circles with President Tate thanking him for legislative advocacy at this month’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
Two separate high school graduations on college campuses in Louisiana were interrupted by gun related incidents this spring, with one dead and five wounded.
Gov. Edwards called for action shortly after the shootings and President Biden recently signed into law a narrow bipartisan bill that doesn’t go nearly far enough.
Yet, Gov. Edwards just last year appointed Aronson and by extension, the leader of one of the largest firearms distributors in the country, to the board of the state’s flagship university system.
While our fellow Louisiana universities had their campuses on lockdown due to active shooters, not a peep came out of LSU or the president’s office regarding the need for increased gun safety measures.
It doesn’t seem hard to imagine why that statement would be a non-starter for at least one member of the university’s governing board.
Next time you are reading about mass casualty events on university campuses, remember that every executive decision at Louisiana’s flagship university is voted on by one of the country’s biggest firearms distributors and not a single educator.
Charlie Stephens is a 21-year-old political communication senior from Baton Rouge
