Monday, March 10, 2008

One of the single worst ideas in the history of everything, ever

Villanova law student Jeremy Clark wants to take his gun with him to campus because he feels vulnerable. I can imagine how that feels. No one wants to be sitting in Estates class at 8:30 in the morning and field a tough question on the Rules Against Perpetuities. But Mr. Clark's worry isn't about tough legal hypotheticals (though, from his position on guns in the classroom, he ought to be); no, Mr. Clark is worried that he's going to get shot before his nascent legal career begins. His solution: allow students to carry concealed firearms.

I know from personal experience that this is the worst idea ever. Law school is probably one of the most demanding academic experiences a student could undertake, both intellectually and emotionally. First-year students go crazy all the time trying to keep up with the work (I was lucky to have broken my leg playing rugby during my first year: all I could do was sit and work, so first year for me was less stressful than for most). During my third year, a first year at my law school went a little nuts. The guy was a former serviceman, like Mr. Clark. The guy had gone from Marine to fat, smelly, bearded, mountain man, and he chained smoked Marlboro menthols while pacing around campus talking on his cell. He also got wasted at the bar a bunch. In the middle of his first year, the guy pulled some sort of gun at the bar (I wasn't there). Rumor was that he was arrested more or less peacefully, but everyone at school kept their distance from him for the rest of the year.

The point is, I would never want to be in a high-stress environment where the people around me could carry concealed weapons, especially in law school. Law students are unstable, emotional, and unreasonable. I don't care how fast you are on the draw. If some jerk two rows behind you freaks out about a section 2-207 question in Sales class, gun or not, you're toast. Best not to let anyone carry to begin with.

6 comments:

SayHey Kid said...

To be honest, I cant really blame the guy for thinking that. The idea is logical but actually carrying a gun on campus is insane.

I remember when I was in college, the only things we had to fear were catching STD's and getting busted for underage drinking. Boy, the times have changed.

Jack Gonzo, MD said...

It's merely a sign of the times. Shootings are so rare that any time one happens it is all over the news so the mere appearance is that IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!

SayHey Kid said...

As rare as it is, its becoming more and more frequent (Tech, NIU, Aubern, UNC in the span of 1 year). While I was in college, there were highschool shootings (Columbine, etc) and we all just blew it off, thinking "it could never happen to us". I guess it was only a matter of time until that kind of psychopathic behavior entered the college classroom.

Jack Gonzo, MD said...

There's ALWAYS been high school shootings, the only difference then was that it happened in white suburbia and not "the ghetto".

Dewey, Cheatem, & Howe said...

There has to be some sort of algebraic formula or some sort of algorithm to figure out how many white people a shooter must shoot to become infamous versus how many non-white people. The media bias in this area is unreal.

Sassie said...

As a VT Alum, having a gun on campus is insane. If someone comes in and puts a classroom under attack and has a gun let's hope that these ex-Marines still have some combat skills against idiots. If these students are in such fear that they feel the need to carry a gun maybe they should just stay inside forever because anything can happen anywhere but to live life in fear is not to live.