Thursday saw heated debate and discussion at Union South over potential campus carry legislation.
The tabling event, designated as a day of action, was meant to raise awareness about the anticipated legislation, said Katherine Kerwin, a student council representative who coordinated the event.
Kerwin said she wanted to encourage students to give House Speaker Robin Vos a call to voice their opposition.
In addition to the tabling event, Kerwin said ASM is circulating a petition in opposition of the legislation as well as sending out an electronic survey via email to gauge student perceptions of the legislation.
The petition currently has around 2,000 signatures, Kerwin said.
The petition signatures, Kerwin said, will be delivered to their corresponding representatives in the state legislature.
“We think it’s going to be a great way for legislatures to say … constituents in Wisconsin don’t support this, these students are constituents of mine and they don’t support it, I need to vote against it,'” Kerwin said.
But as for the survey, one of the table visitors took issue with its validity in measuring student sentiment over campus carry.
Abby Streu, a freshman studying economics and finance, noted that an individual can repeatedly complete the campus carry survey ASM sent out. By emailing out a survey, Streu argued ASM was likely to only receive feedback from students who had strong feelings about the legislation and predicted many recipients would simply elect to ignore the survey altogether, distorting the results.
While numerous students and bypassers approached the table looking for more information, several debated their approach, voicing their support of campus carry legislation.
If something is a constitutional right, UW sophomore student Cahleel Copus argued that it cannot be denied, not even by the majority.
Even if the a majority of state residents do disapprove of the proposed legislation, Copus argued that it doesn’t matter.
“It’s a constitutional right,” he said. “Nobody can infringe on these rights, including the majority.”
