It’s Happened Again: A Sick Person Goes to a College Campus, Pulls Out a Gun, Starts Firing
Posted November 25, 2014 07:29 am | Op-Ed
By
Diane Roberts
It’s happened again: a sick person goes to a college campus, pulls out a gun, and starts firing.
And again, the ignorant or just plain vicious people who think the answer to gun violence is more guns squeal that if every Florida State University student, professor, groundskeeper, manager, lunchroom lady, electrician, janitor, ticket taker and rat-catcher packed heat, then everything would be grand. Jesus would smile down from heaven and carry on polishing the barrel of his Thompson M192.
Myron May, who did the shooting at Strozier Library, and who was, in turn, shot and killed by law enforcement, was an FSU alumnus, a practicing lawyer in New Mexico until October, when he seemed to lose his grip on reality. He imagined himself a “targeted individual,” worrying the “government” had bugged his shoes and installed cameras in his car.
It appears May got the .380 he wanted easily and legally — never mind his deteriorating mental state. However, he never got the medical help he needed.
Florida Carry, a “gun rights” outfit, leapt in front of every available camera, squawking that the incident at FSU would have gone much better if everybody was packing: “Any response time beyond a gun in your hand is too long,” said Eric Friday. “You wouldn’t set your hair on fire and then wait for the fire department to put it out. You would grab a fire extinguisher.”
Or you could avoid sticking your head in the flames.
When they’re not diddling their triggers, the dunderheads of Florida Carry file lawsuits to force colleges to allow guns on campus. They’ve succeeded in making sure guns can be kept in cars on college premises. Now they want guns all over: dorms, frat houses, classrooms, libraries, football games.
What could go wrong? Surely you don’t think the combination of young people, strong drink, strong emotions, late nights, and drugs could ever be a bit volatile? Or to quote Joe the Plumber, one of the gun-lickers’ favorite conservatives, “Your dead kids don’t trump my constitutional rights.”
Diane Roberts is a professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
This piece was reprinted by the Columbia County Observer with permission or license.