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Dealer makes political statement

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Also by Beth Mueller:

Doyle to talk policy, business in U.K. trip (April 22, 2008)
Stay married to fix state budget gap, group says (April 18, 2008)
New leadership for health department (April 10, 2008)
Poll shows push for smoking ban (April 9, 2008)
Rule snags ethics board (April 9, 2008)

by Beth Mueller

Thursday, April 24, 2008

An online gun sale from a Wisconsin dealer set off a nationwide debate about concealed weapons on college campuses Wednesday.

Green Bay-based dealer Eric Thompson sold one of the guns used in last year’s Virginia Tech shootings and clips used at the similar events at Northern Illinois University. Wednesday he kicked off a plan to sell guns on one of his more than 100 websites at cost — taking no profits on the sales.

“I hope and pray I will never again be in a position where I am asked questions about selling items used in a crime,” Thompson said in a statement. “The next news story I want to be involved in is how I sold a firearm to someone who helped stop a mass murderer. By forgoing a profit, I hope to help give law-abiding citizens the tools to prevent tragedy.”

Since the shootings, student groups have sprung up at campuses across the nation, including the University of Wisconsin, hoping to secure the ability to carry concealed weapons on campuses, which are usually gun-free zones.

UW medical student Bret Bostwick, the Wisconsin campus leader for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, said he appreciates Thompson’s efforts to open a dialogue on the concealed carry issue.

“Virginia Tech and NIU taught us that gun-free zone signs on our campuses don’t stop massacres,” Bostwick said. “These signs take guns [away from] law-abiding citizens but do nothing to take the guns out of the hands of criminals.”

Thompson is scheduled to speak at a Students for Concealed Carry on Campus event at Virginia Tech today.

Jerri Bonavia, executive director of the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort, said concealed carry is the wrong tactic to improve campus safety.

“More guns will not improve personal or public safety; in fact, it has just the opposite effect,” Bonavia said.

She said because campuses are settings with excessive alcohol consumption and a great deal of stress, adding guns is “just a horrendous idea.”

Two motivations support the push for concealed carry on campuses, according to Bostwick: deterrence and self-defense.

“Criminals know that a gun-free zone is a place where their victims will be defenseless. So if they’re looking to rack up a big body bag count, campuses are the ideal spot,” Bostwick said. “If some individuals are armed on campus, the criminal no longer has that guarantee.”

He added in the event of an attack, arming licensed and qualified students with concealed weapons would “even the odds” for innocent students.

Wisconsin and Illinois are the only states that completely ban concealed carry. There have been pushes, like a bill in the state Assembly last session, to change that policy.

“I think concealed carry is a right of self-defense that needs to be restored in Wisconsin,” said Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford. “I am open to restoring it to those who happen to be at our higher learning institutions as well as long as they pass a background check and as long as they can pass all the rigorous qualifications for getting a concealed carry permit.”

But Suder agrees with Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, saying the policy is unlikely to change unless the Legislature is thoroughly shaken up in the next election.

“I’m opposed to it because more guns will create more problems, not less. I think the educational institutions ought to be places where guns are not permitted,” Risser said.

“I don’t think concealed carry on campus has a chance in this state in the near future.”

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Anonymous (April 24, 2008 @ 7:12am):

Michael Moore was right.

Anonymous (April 24, 2008 @ 1:32pm):

The only argument I've heard against conceal and carry is �More guns will not improve personal or public safety; in fact, it has just the opposite effect,� Bonavia said.

More guns? The guns are already there, its not like conceal and carry laws will suddenly create more guns. The guns are already there, but currently only in the hands of crazed non-law abiding individuals.

All the studies conducted in the 48 states that allow conceal and carry, have shown a dramatic drop in violent crime after enacting conceal and carry laws.

"in fact, it has just the opposite effect," Did you just decide this one day Bonavia? You have absolutely no basis for making a statement like this.

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