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Guns are not toys

Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Updated: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 00:11

We support the 2nd Amendment, but there is a time and a place for guns. Courthouses, high schools and university campuses are among the places guns do not belong.

The Oregon University System and the State Board of Higher Education issued a new gun policy in March. No one may possess a firearm in any Oregon State University grounds. This, we fully support.

Guns are not toys. Sure, there are plenty of corporations that exploit the idea — NERF guns, airsoft guns or squirt guns — but guns are not toys. Sometimes, through this exploitation, innocent people are put in dangerous situations.

In 2007, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that police shot and killed a 12-year-old boy because they mistook his toy handgun for a real one.

This tragic reality is only a stepping stone toward the issue of gun violence. According to FBI crime statistics, 67.5 percent of all murders were a result of firearms. In Oregon, 36 of 78 — or 46.5 percent — of murders were a result of firearms in 2010.

We can’t imagine why anyone would actually need to own an AK-47 — or other superfluous firearm — aside from simply wanting it because they’re “cool.” There are reasons for having a gun, and “cool” is not one of them. Self-defense and hunting — the kind where you kill for the meat on the bone, not sport — are among the situations we find suitable for owning a weapon.

According to the Just Facts webpage, with the most recent data being from 2010, 47 to 53 million households have a gun. Sixty-seven percent of gun owners have their gun for protection.

Fortunately, the FBI crime statistics also reported the United States has seen a 4 percent decrease in overall gun violence from 2009 to 2010. Even better, Oregon has seen a 12 percent decrease in overall gun violence.

So the question is, as crime rates go down, does the public still feel the need to own a gun for the number one reason, self protection?
Just in case you do, we caution against frivolously pointing your weapon at anyone. According to ORS 166.190, anyone who, “with or without malice, purposely points or aims any loaded or empty pistol, gun, revolver or other firearm, at or toward any other person within range of the firearm, except in self-defense, shall be fined upon conviction.”

Again, guns are not toys.

Released in a timely warning, 25-year-old Daniel T. Meyer was caught trespassing in Rogers Hall on Oct. 11 with a toy gun. Four weeks later, on Nov. 8, Corvallis police arrested Meyer for unlawful entry of a motor vehicle. Meyer was also found in lawful possession of a 9 mm Ruger handgun.

Officials are cautioning against contacting Meyer if you see him.


Editorials serve as means for Barometer editors to offer commentary and opinions on issues both global and local, grand in scale or diminutive. The views expressed here are a reflection of the editorial board’s majority.

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5 comments

doctoralstudent
Thu Nov 15 2012 04:29
The above article is all over the place and mixes multiple concepts around.

Firearms are allowed at Oregon Universities by people. CHL holders in many areas, clubs, and law enforcement officers...these are all people...all human beings. And stepping on campus grounds doesn't turn them into raving murderers. This trend holds true across the country where it is implemented.

What also doesn't change whether on or off campus is crime. But administrators are attempting to create a rapist-protection-zone. Posting signs at the campus border does not have the ability to stop a criminal from committing violent felonies. If this were the case, the country could simply post signs around the White House, nuclear power plants, etc. and have no need for responsible people with tools. But for some reason, I'm certain the Secret Service won't bother taking your advice on this.

In regards to crime, Lott showed that in each place where citizens are not restricted from bearing arms, crime is lower. Less people are murdered, less people are raped, less people are violently assaulted.  Kleck & Gertz show that citizens shoot more attempted rapists and attempted murderers than our esteemed law enforcement officers do, Wright & Rossi show that criminals are much more afraid of an armed citizen than the police...and the list goes on.

On being able to imagine why a person would need to own an AK-47, fortunately the Republic is not limited to a lack of imagination. Given that such is a right, the question of "need" is irrelevant. And since this is specifically a right to protect against tyranny, the AK would be a type of arm that is applicable. We can even look to our own documents for those that share the lack of imagination just a few sentences after declaring that it is the right of the people to abolish a destructive form of government:

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." - US Declaration of Independence

Then the article selects anecdotes and tosses in the toys concept.
The above article was poorly researched and written.

Anonymous
Thu Nov 15 2012 00:27
Murders are not the result of firearms, ever. Firearms do not fire themselves. They are iinert objects. It is the intention of the person operating the firearm that brings it to life, tragically in some cases, and saving lives in others. There are many good reasons to own guns not listed above and it is our right to do so. In some cases, one might consider a firearm, when handled appropriately, with training, to equalize the playing field a bit between the would-be rapist that is 6"4"" and the potential victim that is 5'2". The banning of guns from public buildings does not keep people who are intent upon committing violence upon another to turn around when they see the sign. Criminals see that as a place with easy marks; no opposition. Several would be mass shootings in other parts of the country have been stopped at earlier stages by a person with a concealed handgun license, who was carrying that day and kept their wits about them. I imagine the people who survived that have a different take on firearms then the editors. It takes some time for law enforcement to arrive. We don't live in villages anymore and they're stretched thin. I'm not sure I've ever read of a case of police officer suddenly materializing out of thin air between a perp and a victim, stopping the would be rape/assault/murder. When you can't carry a police officer in your pocket, it can be useful in some cases to carry a gun instead.
MTF
Wed Nov 14 2012 13:13
You are simply incorrect when you state, " No one may possess a firearm in any Oregon State University grounds." ANY member of the at large public that is 1) not enrolled as a student, 2) not an employee, 3) not on campus for a ticketed event, or 4) not in an established business relationship with the University (i.e. a vender) can possess a gun on campus. Also, the pistol club members are allowed to transport guns to and from organized activities and some FAMILY housing situations do not prohibit guns. There are a number of other exceptions as well.
RustyNut
Wed Nov 14 2012 12:55
I can own as many guns I want for whatever reason I want as long I'm not hurting anybody else and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me.
Anonymous
Wed Nov 14 2012 12:51
-Courthouses, high schools and university campuses are among the places guns do not belong.

Unfortunately for you, psychopaths think otherwise.

-This tragic reality is only a stepping stone toward the issue of gun violence. According to FBI crime statistics, 67.5 percent of all murders were a result of firearms. In Oregon, 36 of 78 - or 46.5 percent - of murders were a result of firearms in 2010.

Someone committed a murder with a knife! BAN KNIVES!!!!!!!

-We can't imagine why anyone would actually need to own an AK-47 - or other superfluous firearm - aside from simply wanting it because they're "cool." There are reasons for having a gun, and "cool" is not one of them. Self-defense and hunting - the kind where you kill for the meat on the bone, not sport - are among the situations we find suitable for owning a weapon.

Fun fact: The bill of rights is a bill of RIGHTS, not NEEDS. I have no need to own an AMD 65, and yet I do because 1) I can, and 2) I like to shoot. I can own a rifle for any reason including none at all. I'm sorry that other people are scared of inanimate objects, but those people are just going to have to live with the fact that my rights don't end where their feelings begin. I don't care if you think it's "suitable". Thank God we live in a nation where emotions and fears don't dictate what a person can and cannot do.

-Released in a timely warning, 25-year-old Daniel T. Meyer was caught trespassing in Rogers Hall on Oct. 11 with a toy gun. Four weeks later, on Nov. 8, Corvallis police arrested Meyer for unlawful entry of a motor vehicle. Meyer was also found in lawful possession of a 9 mm Ruger handgun.

Well excuse me all to hell. I never knew that guns are mind-altering objects that cause people to do dumb things! If you see me breaking into a car, take my gun! Then I'll snap out of it!

The level of ignorance here is astounding. Try this site for a little dose of reality. Independently sourced for all arguments:

http://gunfacts.info/





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