Concealed weapons on campus? Not too surprising

Two days after a gunman killed three Michigan State University students and injured five others, and the same day hundreds of students staged a protest at the Michigan state Capitol to petition for gun reform legislation, Republican lawmakers in Arizona were pushing through committee a bill to allow concealed weapons ... on college campuses.

I know, not exactly surprising for Arizona.

The legislation, Senate Bill 1300, passed through the Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety & Border Security Committee on a party-line vote.

It’s sponsored by Republican state Sen. Wendy Rogers, the election-denying friend of white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who posted an antisemitic trope on social media and defended broadcaster Alex Jones against the parents of the first-graders murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School who were suing him for saying the massacre was fake.

Again, not surprising.

The bill would allow anyone with a Department of Public Safety concealed carry permit to carry a weapon on “any university, college or community college” campus in Arizona.

There are a number of places in Arizona from which concealed weapons can be prohibited. Bars, public events, polling places.

And even if a tavern allows armed individuals inside, it is against Arizona law for anyone carrying a concealed weapon to drink alcohol.

Gee, do you think that might be a bit of an issue on a college campus? Not to mention the already considerable stresses and strains that students at that level are dealing with.

What about when the weapon is not being carried? Will others have access?

The Department of Public Safety concealed carry course is a good thing, but it’s not a specialized training session for those trying to deal with, say, an active shooter situation or those facing a sudden and imminent threat.

And think of how many potential bystanders a college campus presents to someone firing a gun.

But then, this is Arizona.

Way back in 1986 I spoke a number of times with a woman named Dolores Heil, whose 25-year-old daughter Susan Dina was shot and killed while in the Valley to attend a wedding.

Susan was lounging by the pool of a Mesa motel when a man carrying a handgun exited a nearby bar and took a shot at a couple of guys driving away in a car. They’d caused a disturbance inside the drinking establishment.

The shooter missed the men. His bullet kept going until it struck Susan.

The arguments in favor of allowing guns on campus are the same arguments we’ve heard from the gun lobby for decades. Crime prevention and, if

need be, intervention.

Toward the end of the committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Rogers tried to drive home her point by emphatically asking a Democratic colleague who opposed the bill, “Do you know where the safest place on Earth is?”

After pausing for effect, Rogers added, “A gun show.”

Here’s the thing — she is correct.

I’ve attended numerous gun shows over the years for work and they are very, very safe. Because every gun show I’ve been to banned loaded weapons.