Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Professor dons armor to protest open carry law
When Kevin Willmott stepped into a University of Kansas classroom wearing a bulletproof vest, his students immediately fell silent.
It was the professor’s way of protesting a state law that allows concealed carry on college and university campuses. The legislation, which was passed in 2013, was implemented over the summer at colleges and universities across the state.
Willmott said that when students and staff members returned to University of Kansas campus in Lawrence last month, he wanted to let them know exactly where he stands on the gun issue.
As he walked into the room on the first day of class, he said that there was “an audible hush.”
“One of the things I told them was, ‘You try to ignore that I’m wearing a bulletproof vest, and I’ll try to ignore that you could be packing a .44 Magnum,’ ” he said.
Willmott, 59, a professor of film and media studies, said in an interview that he does not fear his students — but is convinced that concealed carry on campuses is “a crazy idea.”
“We’ve seen what happened in these horrible incidences at Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech and a bunch of places around the country,” Willmott told The Washington Post. “And I don’t think it’s the students’ job to turn into Rambo and try to take on somebody that might be out to do us harm.”
“The whole idea is just insane and it can only lead to bad things,” he added.
Willmott said the fact that the firearms are concealed may make them more dangerous for everyone. “If everybody had to walk around with guns strapped on their hips like in the Old West, I think people would be a lot less comfortable with it,” he said. “So me walking around with a bulletproof vest reminds everyone that this is actually going on.”
The Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act was passed in the legislature in 2006, concerning concealed carry across the state. A statute was added in 2013 allowing legal gun owners over 21 to carry concealed handguns in public buildings, including state college and university campuses. But it provided an exemption to educational institutions, among others, allowing them to opt out until July 1 of this year, to allow them to prepare and implement policies.
The University of Kansas’ new weapons policy states that handguns must be secured in holsters and carried unloaded with the safety feature on.
According to the university:
“The handgun must also not be seen by others and be under the carrier’s custody and control — on the body or in a backpack or purse, or in a safe storage device or secure location, such as a locked vehicle. Except when necessary for transferring to safe storage or self-defense, a handgun must not be openly displayed. Violations of policy may result in individuals being asked to leave campus with the weapon and being cited for trespass if they refuse. University employees or students who violate policy may face discipline through applicable university codes of conduct.”
Willmott, a feature filmmaker who has worked with Spike Lee among others, said he wanted to think of a visual way to respond to concealed carry.
Still, when he walked into his classroom Aug. 22, he acknowledged it was “a little uncomfortable, because this is not the normal world.”
He read his students his syllabus and university’s weapons policy — along with an amendment of his own: Bulletproof vests would also be permitted in his class.
Willmott said he made the decision to protest concealed carry after he attended an open meeting at the school about the policy.
He said he sat next to a Muslim professor who told him it would be a detriment to free speech in her classroom because of fear.
“I think it’s a detriment to free speech as a whole on campus,” he said. “Race is a really turbulent issue, and it’s even more turbulent right now. Will people be honest about their feelings?”
Willmott said a major part of the college experience is learning to discuss issues that are “touchy” but important — and he believes concealed carry will no doubt have a chilling effect on university campuses.
“It’s hard to get into those kinds of discussions that are obviously emotional and fragile in various ways in terms of race, in terms of gender, in terms of religion when you’re thinking about someone possibly having a gun,” he said.
Willmott said that he has not personally received any backlash for his views.