This past Tuesday a University student, Cassie LeBlanc, was robbed while getting into her car after leaving the library around 9:30 p.m. The robber forced her against her car and asked for her wallet, then he discovered there was no cash. He decided he didn’t want it, but after seeing text books on the front seat, the thief decided to take those instead.
I was very glad to hear LeBlanc was alright, but a very important question came to mind: What if she had a firearm to defend herself? Would this incident have happened?
My answer is probably not. The thief was unarmed. If Leblanc had possessed a firearm and simply pointed the weapon – loaded or unloaded – the thief would have probably run. I can imagine simple thieves like this are just trying to make a quick buck. As soon as things get complicated they usually run.
I can already hear what my opponents are saying, and they are right. If Leblanc was armed and pulled the firearm on the thief things could have gotten a lot worse. She could have shot him, he could have turned the gun on her and injured or killed her and it would have gone from a simple robbery to assault with a deadly weapon or murder. I understand this point, but what if it wasn’t simple robbery? What if it was rape? I would like to see how many people change their mind on students’ rights to carry firearms as soon as a young girl gets raped or murdered. Apparently no one got it after two international students were shot at their on-campus apartment.
Louisiana law does not allow anyone with a concealed carrying license to carry a firearm on any college campuses, public or private. This is obviously a violation of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
To carry a concealed weapon in the state of Louisiana, an individual has to: complete a rigorous application, prove that he or she is more than competent in using the firearm, be fingerprinted by local police department and pay a fee. Not everyone can just go and get one of these permits.
Unfortunately, things in this country have gotten pretty bad. First was Columbine and then Virginia Tech. During the later more than 30 people died.
These things can be avoided. If you know other people have guns, you’re less likely to try and commit a crime.
The argument against that is if the killer is suicidal other people carrying guns won’t deter that killer from going on a rampage. Well that can be countered by arguing if any of those Virginia Tech students who were killed had had a firearm they may not have died, and one more saved life is reason enough to allow people to carry concealed weapons.
A serious problem is laziness among people in this country. If we can have someone else do something for us then we’re all for it, and that is what is destroying this nation. Why protect ourselves when we have people to do that for us? If the founders of this country saw the state we are in now how disgusted they would be disgusted.
Thomas Jefferson would want to know what happened to the self-reliant farmer. No one knows how to take care of themselves anymore. People are too dependent on the government to provide them with goods and services, and that, my friends, limits freedom.
This country was never designed to have so many programs and so much control over individuals’ lives. Take Social Security as an example. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it say the federal government has the right to take individuals’ money and put it into some type of retirement fund.
Why should the government be allowed to take the hard-earned money students work for and tell them how to save for retirement? Shouldn’t citizens be allowed to decide how they want to save for their futures? Are there not more lucrative forms of long term investments that individuals can invest in for their future?
Students need to demand that state legislatures give us the right to protect ourselves on campus. It is more important now than ever.
It’s little things like the right to protect yourself that Americans forget because they were born into it. Just because it has been going on for a long time doesn’t mean it’s right. It is high time that this generation take control of this country. Our time is now. We can no longer rely on our parents and grandparents to do it for us. We let them do that in the past and look where we are now.
—-Contact Matthew Gravens at [email protected]