On June 20 Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) suggested campus carry is stifling free speech at universities and colleges across America.
He made this suggestion during an exchange with Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) president Richard Cohen.
Durbin addressed the growing instances of speaker cancellations and riotous responses to speakers on college campuses:
Should I be able to stop a speaker because I’m offended? No. Because I’m intimidated? I think yes. Should I be able to stop someone from speaking because he’s unpopular? No. Because I find him menacing? Yes. Should I be able to stop someone who makes me feel uncomfortable? No. But should I be able to stop someone who I find threatening, menacing, intimidating? Where do you draw the line?
Now put yourself in the position of the president of the university. You want to encourage the exchange of ideas–let’s start with that premise–but you also have a responsibility for the safety of the students, and what might happen from those who come and attend a meeting and what the reaction might be. Now add another element, ten states allow the carrying of guns on college campuses. Doesn’t this make this a little more complicated for the college president, as to whether or not that speaker is going to be allowed to come in and speak?
SPLC’s Cohen responded to Durbin, saying, “As a matter of common sense, we have to allow the university to exercise some judgement in a perilous situation.” His example of such a situation was one in which a college president obtained “information that 50 bus-loads of armed anti-fascists were coming to campus.”
NTK Network reports that constitutional law expert Floyd Abrams then responded to Durbin, saying, “I think the real issue is what’s the rule and what’s the exception. The rule has to be we allow speech. We don’t censor speech, we don’t rule out speakers because of the possibility that they’ll be some sort of harmful impact because they speak.”
Durbin interrupted by pointing out again that ten states have adopted campus carry and claimed this means a group could announce “we’re bringing guns, and under the law, they are allowed to carry the guns onto the campus.”
Abrams responded, “So they are … it’s perfectly constitutional. That does not empower college presidents to shut down campuses. There has to be more than a credible threat.” He then turned the tables and asked, “Have we had a situation on campus in which, as a result of a speech, people who have come with guns have committed felonies? I can’t think of one.”
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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