During a December 1 interview on All Sides With Ann Fisher, Ohio State University president Michael Drake suggested the car and knife attack on OSU’s campus proved campus carry is not necessary.
Fisher brought up HB 48, a bill that would allow concealed carry permit holders to carry guns on campus for self-defense with administrative approval. Drake stressed his opposition to campus carry and said, “none of his colleagues” support it either. He then referenced the car and knife attack, saying, “We had a circumstance here where there was someone who was a threat to the community and he was neutralized by a professional within one minute and that would be how we think things should go.”
He reiterated his point, saying, “We are comfortable with professionals dealing with situations like this.” He then referenced the attack again and said, “The threat was neutralized within one minute and injuries were kept to a minimum and we think that’s how things are designed to work.”
A few points: First, one minute of being chased by an attacker with a butcher knife seems to be about 60 seconds too long, rather than “how…things should go.” Shouldn’t we rather wish that laws were different and a law-abiding student could have drawn a gun and cut that attack time to 30 seconds or even less?
Secondly, when CNN and other outlets report 11 people were hospitalized as the result of the attack, how can we take solace in the claim that “injuries were kept to a minimum?” Why not give law-abiding students the chance to cut that injury count in half or prevent injuries altogether in the event of another attack?
Lastly, Drake’s willingness to continue leaving it up to “professionals” has not stopped the last two attacks on campus. The November 28, 2016 car and knife attack was preceded by the November 29, 2015 attack at the school’s Wexner Center for the Arts. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the Wexner Center attack occurred when former security guard Dean D. Sturgis entered the building and took a hostage, then “fired shots in rooms of a building that is largely made of glass” before eventually shooting and killing himself. Moreover, patrons were in the art center when the attack unfolded.
It would be interesting to know whether the frightened patrons or the hostage–an “unarmed security guard“–were content being defenseless while waiting for Drake’s professionals to show up and save them.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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