ANYONE WITH ME ON THIS ONE, PLEASE WRITE THE ADMINISTRATION YOURSELF. I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A STUDENT GROUP TO PRESS THIS ISSUE - MANY VOICES ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN MINE ALONE.
PEOPLE ON OTHER PRIVATE CAMPUSES - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Dear Deans,
Good afternoon.
With rumors circulating on campus of another robbery of a Cooley student near campus, I would like to request an opportunity to sit down and discuss options for concealed carry permit holders who attend Cooley Law school. Since that may not be possible in the short term, I would like to outline my reasons for raising this question again.
I spoke to Dean Ward and the male assistant dean who was present on Lansing campus (I apologize as his name escapes me) during 1L orientation and received the following answers on why we are not allowed to carry on campus (I am paraphrasing from memory, please forgive me if I am not being exact):
1. A police officer left his weapon hanging on a bathroom stall hook a few years ago and ruined it for everyone.
Q: Should we be punishing all legal permit holders for the mistake of one person years ago?
2. We don't want somebody getting stressed during exams, coming in and shooting up the place.
Q: Prohibiting legal carry will prevent illegal actions? This argument is so fallacious that I cannot believe a person with a legal degree would make it, no personal offense intended.
3. The students don't feel comfortable with other students carrying / it is detrimental to the learning environment.
Q: Has there been an opinion poll or popular vote? Was there student action to restrict legal carry before one person's mistake? Afterwards? Or is this the administration acting paternalistically for the "best interests" of the student body? If it is concealed, how will people know I'm carrying? At least among Michigan natives, CPL doesn't even raise eyebrows considering the percentage of people carrying. We can legally open carry here as well, I saw a guy doing it in Meijer's a few weeks ago and nobody even blinked. Show me the public outrage / fear.
- I would like a compromise solution -
I do not necessarily want to carry my gun into the classroom. I am not so rabidly paranoid as to think that something bad is going to happen to me on the campus itself. Statistically, it is highly unlikely I will become a victim of violence within the confines of Cooley Law School. I would like to set that out up front.
I am willing to balance my rights with the public policy reasons the administration has set out (even if they are founded on frivolous personal and political opinion). I would be willing to check my firearm with security and store it in a secured locker. I would be willing to pay a monthly fee for the privilege, to help defray the costs of installing necessary facilites. I would be willing to store my gun unloaded in my bag while on campus instead of carrying on my person.
- Points relevant to # 2, above -
1. The State of Michigan has deemed me, along with 275,000+ other people in this state, fit to carry a concealed handgun. That's right, 1 in 25 adults who have the legal right to carry in this state are exercising it, or 1 in 48 for every man, woman, and child in the state.
Our legal right to carry is determined by meeting a total of 27 state and federal requirements.
2. Firearm related crimes among legal permit holders are virtually non-existent in any jurisdiction. The Violence Prevention Center (an anti-gun lobbying organization) found that from 2007-2009 concealed carry holders nationwide committed less that 1% of firearm related homicides (including defensive shootings). The empirical data backing claims that allowing CPL holders on campus is dangerous simply isn't there.
Only 2% of Michigan CPL holders have been cited for ANY infraction whatsoever.
3. Carrying a concealed handgun into a place that conspicuously posts "No Guns Allowed" signage, at worst, makes one a criminal trespasser, although it has been rarely prosecuted. Usually, you just get asked to leave. At Cooley, it is grounds for immediate expulsion. This seems a touch harsh.
Technically, if there is no signage, people unaffiliated with the law school who have concealed carry permits are not on notice that they are not allowed to carry into the building under Michigan law. I am on notice because as a student I have access to the printed materials. Since the majority of those CPL holders are not Cooley students, the anti-weapons policy is essentially toothless, even as to those carrying legally. If you are going to be anti-weapon, let's be consistent and post blatant "No Guns Allowed" signs on all entrances.
4. Even the Virginia AG (yes, the state that brought us the tragic VA Tech shooting) who believes guns should be allowed on public campuses.
- Where and Why I Would Like The Right to Carry (Even the State doesn't worry about this, but I'll humor you) -
1. I bicycle commute or ride the bus on a daily basis. Locking it up in my car is not an option.
2. The Cooley Safety Report essentially says nothing bad happens here. Wrong. The FBI report from 2009 says I have a 1 in 21 chance of being a victim of property or violent crime within the city limit, 92% higher than anywhere else in Michigan. Becoming a victim of crime in the Lansing area is a foreseeable event.
Since there is nowhere to safely store my firearm, Cooley's weapons policy effectively disarms me on my way to and from class and while walking around the downtown area. Likewise, if DTP (or another on-campus organization I'm involved with) is meeting in the lobby before heading somewhere else, I either have to wait outside or not carry. Considering that I routinely go armed whenever I know I will not have to be at school, in the event I become a victim of crime either on, around, or in transit to, campus, I will be filing a lawsuit. But for school policy, I would be armed in the downtown area, Monday through Friday. Why? Because Cooley'sunarmed security guards certainly aren't going to escort me down Kalamazoo street to the CATA station.
- Precedent -
Municipalities and private businesses in multiple jurisdictions are becoming increasingly hesitant to restrict concealed carry where it is legal by state statute based on that theory of liability. While it hasn't been tested in the courts yet that I have found, I'm guessing the lawyers over at the NRA civil defense fund are itching for a test case.
We do have a case pending in Michigan Western District Court, Hoven v. Walgreen Co., wherein a clerk shot a robber with a concealed weapon he was carrying in violation of company policy and was fired for it, which I find analogous to the Cooley expulsion for weapons policy currently in place. Needless to say, I'm anxious to see how that one turns out.
I am willing to discuss and compromise. I know I am not the only Cooley Student with a CPL, and I'm certainly not the only person who doesn't feel safe in the areas around campus from time to time. I know that we can come up with a solution that satisfies everyone.
I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
PEOPLE ON OTHER PRIVATE CAMPUSES - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Dear Deans,
Good afternoon.
With rumors circulating on campus of another robbery of a Cooley student near campus, I would like to request an opportunity to sit down and discuss options for concealed carry permit holders who attend Cooley Law school. Since that may not be possible in the short term, I would like to outline my reasons for raising this question again.
I spoke to Dean Ward and the male assistant dean who was present on Lansing campus (I apologize as his name escapes me) during 1L orientation and received the following answers on why we are not allowed to carry on campus (I am paraphrasing from memory, please forgive me if I am not being exact):
1. A police officer left his weapon hanging on a bathroom stall hook a few years ago and ruined it for everyone.
Q: Should we be punishing all legal permit holders for the mistake of one person years ago?
2. We don't want somebody getting stressed during exams, coming in and shooting up the place.
Q: Prohibiting legal carry will prevent illegal actions? This argument is so fallacious that I cannot believe a person with a legal degree would make it, no personal offense intended.
3. The students don't feel comfortable with other students carrying / it is detrimental to the learning environment.
Q: Has there been an opinion poll or popular vote? Was there student action to restrict legal carry before one person's mistake? Afterwards? Or is this the administration acting paternalistically for the "best interests" of the student body? If it is concealed, how will people know I'm carrying? At least among Michigan natives, CPL doesn't even raise eyebrows considering the percentage of people carrying. We can legally open carry here as well, I saw a guy doing it in Meijer's a few weeks ago and nobody even blinked. Show me the public outrage / fear.
- I would like a compromise solution -
I do not necessarily want to carry my gun into the classroom. I am not so rabidly paranoid as to think that something bad is going to happen to me on the campus itself. Statistically, it is highly unlikely I will become a victim of violence within the confines of Cooley Law School. I would like to set that out up front.
I am willing to balance my rights with the public policy reasons the administration has set out (even if they are founded on frivolous personal and political opinion). I would be willing to check my firearm with security and store it in a secured locker. I would be willing to pay a monthly fee for the privilege, to help defray the costs of installing necessary facilites. I would be willing to store my gun unloaded in my bag while on campus instead of carrying on my person.
- Points relevant to # 2, above -
1. The State of Michigan has deemed me, along with 275,000+ other people in this state, fit to carry a concealed handgun. That's right, 1 in 25 adults who have the legal right to carry in this state are exercising it, or 1 in 48 for every man, woman, and child in the state.
Our legal right to carry is determined by meeting a total of 27 state and federal requirements.
2. Firearm related crimes among legal permit holders are virtually non-existent in any jurisdiction. The Violence Prevention Center (an anti-gun lobbying organization) found that from 2007-2009 concealed carry holders nationwide committed less that 1% of firearm related homicides (including defensive shootings). The empirical data backing claims that allowing CPL holders on campus is dangerous simply isn't there.
Only 2% of Michigan CPL holders have been cited for ANY infraction whatsoever.
3. Carrying a concealed handgun into a place that conspicuously posts "No Guns Allowed" signage, at worst, makes one a criminal trespasser, although it has been rarely prosecuted. Usually, you just get asked to leave. At Cooley, it is grounds for immediate expulsion. This seems a touch harsh.
Technically, if there is no signage, people unaffiliated with the law school who have concealed carry permits are not on notice that they are not allowed to carry into the building under Michigan law. I am on notice because as a student I have access to the printed materials. Since the majority of those CPL holders are not Cooley students, the anti-weapons policy is essentially toothless, even as to those carrying legally. If you are going to be anti-weapon, let's be consistent and post blatant "No Guns Allowed" signs on all entrances.
4. Even the Virginia AG (yes, the state that brought us the tragic VA Tech shooting) who believes guns should be allowed on public campuses.
- Where and Why I Would Like The Right to Carry (Even the State doesn't worry about this, but I'll humor you) -
1. I bicycle commute or ride the bus on a daily basis. Locking it up in my car is not an option.
2. The Cooley Safety Report essentially says nothing bad happens here. Wrong. The FBI report from 2009 says I have a 1 in 21 chance of being a victim of property or violent crime within the city limit, 92% higher than anywhere else in Michigan. Becoming a victim of crime in the Lansing area is a foreseeable event.
Since there is nowhere to safely store my firearm, Cooley's weapons policy effectively disarms me on my way to and from class and while walking around the downtown area. Likewise, if DTP (or another on-campus organization I'm involved with) is meeting in the lobby before heading somewhere else, I either have to wait outside or not carry. Considering that I routinely go armed whenever I know I will not have to be at school, in the event I become a victim of crime either on, around, or in transit to, campus, I will be filing a lawsuit. But for school policy, I would be armed in the downtown area, Monday through Friday. Why? Because Cooley'sunarmed security guards certainly aren't going to escort me down Kalamazoo street to the CATA station.
- Precedent -
Municipalities and private businesses in multiple jurisdictions are becoming increasingly hesitant to restrict concealed carry where it is legal by state statute based on that theory of liability. While it hasn't been tested in the courts yet that I have found, I'm guessing the lawyers over at the NRA civil defense fund are itching for a test case.
We do have a case pending in Michigan Western District Court, Hoven v. Walgreen Co., wherein a clerk shot a robber with a concealed weapon he was carrying in violation of company policy and was fired for it, which I find analogous to the Cooley expulsion for weapons policy currently in place. Needless to say, I'm anxious to see how that one turns out.
I am willing to discuss and compromise. I know I am not the only Cooley Student with a CPL, and I'm certainly not the only person who doesn't feel safe in the areas around campus from time to time. I know that we can come up with a solution that satisfies everyone.
I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
