Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Student gun group holds first meeting

A new student group began its campaign advocating the allowance of concealed weapons on university campuses Wednesday evening in Memorial Union at University of Wisconsin.

Students for Concealed Carry is a national grassroots organization of more than 27,000 members who “support the right of license holders to carry concealed handguns on campus.”

UW graduate student Bret Bostwick founded the University of Wisconsin chapter three weeks ago. The group has received significant media attention in the wake of the death of UW junior Brittany Zimmermann and the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings.

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The organization aims to “educate and advocate for concealed carry legislation” in Wisconsin supporting the right of individuals over the age of 21 who have completed training and obtained licenses to carry concealed weapons on campus, Bostwick said.

He added they face “a double hurdle in Wisconsin” because legislation must be passed both at the state level and at the local campus level to allow for concealed weapons on UW grounds.

According to Bostwick, the idea of concealed carry in Madison is a “hot-button issue.”

“People find it rare to have such a radical, conservative stance coming from such a liberal campus,” Bostwick said.

Bostwick added concealed carry is legal at 11 U.S. colleges and universities. Nine of these are public schools in Utah, while the others are located in Virginia and Colorado.

When looking to gather support, Bostwick said it was important to “differentiate between hypothesis and real-life hindsight” at these schools.

“No single act of gun violence, theft or accident has occurred at any of these schools,” Bostwick said.

Jeri Bonavia, the head of Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort, said she disagrees with Bostwick.

?”It’s important to look for viable methods for providing individual and public safety,” she said. “Adding guns is not such a method.”

The idea is “absurd in a campus situation,” she added.

Next week, the national SCC is sponsoring the second National Empty Holster Protest on more than 300 campuses. More than 3,500 students have signed up to participate nationwide.

Students participating will wear empty holsters to “symbolize how college students are left defenseless on campuses,” Bostwick said.

The University of Wisconsin Police Department and UW administration have been notified of the protest, and Bostwick has met individually with officers to describe the nature of the protest.

Last year’s protest at other universities went without any major incident, Bostwick said. This is the first year UW students will be involved in the protest.

This is the only event the group will be sponsoring this year, as they intend to “hit hard with recruiting” this fall, possibly sponsoring debates or speakers on campus, according to Bostwick.

Bonavia said she “understood the fear and desperation” many students feel. Campus, however, with its stress levels and access to alcohol, is not an appropriate place for firearms, she added.

“More guns on campus will not equal more safety,” Bonavia said.

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