Stuart Dedmon, leader of Students for Concealed Carry at the University of Memphis, explains his position about allowing students to carry guns on campus. The student group held a protest in front of the University Center.
Armed with empty holsters and fact sheets, members of the University of Memphis Students for Concealed Carry hosted a protest in front of the University Center on Monday.
The empty holsters were used to grab people’s attention and begin the conversation about concealed carry on campus.
Stuart Dedmon, 23, a biology senior who is the current leader of the U of M Students for Concealed Carry said that he believes that if you have a permit to carry a weapon off campus, you should be able to carry on campus. “We are not trying to replace police and we are not trying to deputize students to protect campus,†Dedmon said. “All were doing is allowing people to defend their personal selves. We believe in personal safety, not public protection.â€
After the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, Students for Concealed Carrying was created and is now in all 50 states, Dedmon said.
The protest allowed students to ask questions and give opposing viewpoints.
“Some people say well what if a teacher gave somebody a bad grade and they got mad and shot them, well what’s stopping them from doing it now?†Dedmon said.
“It doesn’t happen now, what would make it any different?†The same idea goes for students who believe that people may be scared to have critical conversations if they knew that someone in the classroom had a gun.
“Permit holding individuals are not just going to go off and shoot somebody because they disagree,†Dedmon said.
“Again, it doesn’t happen now it won’t happen if permit holders are allowed to carry on campus.â€
Another uncomfortable issue for some is the possibility of a gun going off in the middle of campus.
“A gun will not go off unless you pull the trigger,†Dedmon said, “So, unless you’re playing, it won’t go off. There’s been 3 incidents in the past 15 years that permit holding individuals have been able to carry on campus, so 500 semesters, three discharges, no one was injured and those individuals were apprehended and charged.â€
As of July 1, 2016, U of M full-time employees are allowed to carry a concealed weapon on campus, legislation that the U of M Students for Concealed Carry pushed for.
Derek Myers, campus interim chief of police, said that since the university opposed legislation for employees to carry guns, he does not think students will be able to carry on campus.
“If students had guns on campus, we would receive a lot of calls from people who just see a gun and call police,†Myers said. “We would have to check everyone out and that would tie up officers.â€
Another factor to students having guns on campus is the policy that police would follow if an active shooter was on campus, Myers said.
“The idea is to get to the threat quickly to stop the loss of life,†Myers said. “We would have to stop and check everyone who has a gun on campus and secure their weapons, which keeps us from getting to the threat.â€
In the next few weeks, another event will be held to keep the conversation going about concealed carrying on campus.
“I will be walking around in a prison jumpsuit asking people to sign a petition that says ‘keep campus gun free so I can continue to rob people without fear of being shot,’†Dedmon said. “It’s just a comical event to make students think.â€
The idea was created by the Leadership Institute, an organization that works and trains activists and students.
Patrick Petsche, a field representative for Leadership Institute, said that this event exemplifies the point that crimes are committed in gun free zones, like college campuses.
“This event shows the fact that criminals want armless victims, where the right of self-preservation is not present,†Petsche said. “Concealed carry is about personal protect; it’s a human right.â€
