As a faculty member at one of our state universities, I rarely am up in arms about any of the legislation put forth by our state legislators. But Senate Bill 176, sponsored by Sen. John Coghill, R-Fairbanks/North Pole, has opponents running around half-cocked, and I must step into the line of fire and defend the sound reasoning behind this bill.
For too long the rule of the land has forced so many of us law-abiding gun owners to feel like our rights to bear arms are under fire, especially here in Alaska, where we are prohibited from carrying our weapons everywhere we want to. Sure, I can carry my Glock or my .44 Magnum tucked stealthily away most anywhere I want, but that's not the case on our Alaska campuses, where each time I enter a door at work I am reminded by a bright red sign that I am not welcome in the hallowed halls of academia, at least not when I'm packing heat. This is clearly discrimination against law-abiding citizens such as myself, and Sen. Coghill's new bill is no doubt shooting squarely at this affront to our liberty.
While I could blast away at the arguments made by opponents of this bill, let me instead focus our attention downrange to the benefits such a law could bring to higher education.
First, think of how much more persuasive a professor like myself could be in the classroom. Students would no longer question a "dead" line. They might reconsider cheating in class. No doubt they would see the pistol on my hip, and the debonair bandolier strung across my chest, and they would know I meant business. Most likely attrition rates would decline and student success rates would dramatically rise. One can also assume that those pistol-packing faculty would also benefit from significant increases in their student evaluations in the first semester. This unorthodox method of instruction at the college level might reveal a quick solution to our academic achievement gap in public schools as well. Forget that controversial and costly Common Core -- introducing the low cost, pistol-packing "Coghill Common Corps."
On the rare chance that some student, staff, administrator, faculty member, legislator or ordinary citizen did bring a weapon to school, and did intend to harm someone, then we would have a well-armed, albeit slightly unorganized, militia already in place to deal with the problem. Naturally, all those who would be carrying weapons might not be trained or ready for an "active shooter" on campus, but that's beside the point. The armed staff, faculty, and students would all know instinctively what to do if shots were fired and they could draw their weapons and be ready and willing to kill. Because even if they weren't trained for such an event, they would all at least know and be able to recite one of the golden rules of gun safety: "Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy!"
Surely all those carrying a weapon would know this central tenet of gun ownership, and I'm completely confident all those fine folks would know the responsibility that comes with carrying such a weapon, and they would all be prepared to shoot to kill.
As a responsible gun owner myself, raised and trained as a kid by a father in law enforcement, I know that drawing my firearm isn't like in the movies where I can just wing the bad guy. In real life, if I ever have to aim my gun at something, or someone, I'll have to shoot to kill. I'm not at liberty to do otherwise, and I suppose when the campus police finally arrive on the scene, I'm confident they too will be trained and recognize that I'm the upstanding citizen professor that I am, simply defending my own liberties and those of innocent people around me.
Coghill's SB 176 will "aim to continue to defend the liberties of Alaskans," and those of us he is aiming at who own and use firearms have an opportunity here to take a stand and ensure that our right to carry a loaded firearm shouldn't stop us at a campus gate any more than it does at the entrance to a firing range.
Oh, wait! That's right. Gun ranges -- of all places -- don't allow us to enter with a loaded firearm! Of all places! Perhaps this is oversight on Coghill's part. I hope there is time to make a few amendments to SB 176. We also need to ensure it is legal to enter all public firing ranges in Alaska with loaded weapons, too. We can't allow our liberties to also be infringed upon at gun ranges, or campuses, or even our legislative offices.
Don Rearden grew up in Southwest Alaska. He has been hunting and shooting for as long as he can remember and owns an embarrassing number of firearms. He also has a terrible sense of humor and in no way actually supports or condones SB 176 or the carrying of firearms by anyone on campus other than highly trained law enforcement officials and Chuck Norris. Rearden is an associate professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage and is the author of The 2013 Washington Post Notable List novel "The Raven's Gift" (a story which, ironically, includes the hero carrying a gun into a school). Read an excerpt at www.donrearden.com.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.