R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe has written an op-ed for USA Today urging Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to veto the state's House Bill 859, better known as the "campus carry" law. If enacted, the law would allow for anyone over the age of 21, who has a license, to legally carry a gun on a public college campus, except inside sporting events, dorms, and fraternity and sorority houses. Stipe is a University of Georgia alum, as are the other members of R.E.M. In fact, the band formed there. He writes that he's "worried about how guns on campus would affect college life."
I worry about what it means when loaded guns are allowed at a tailgate where alcohol is being served. I'm concerned for survivors of sexual assault, who may soon have to face an armed assailant at the time of the crime and again at their disciplinary hearing.
He writes that he's also worried about what concealed weapons would do to free speech on campus:
I'm worried about classrooms. If students are debating a contested subject – which is crucial to learning and expanding their worldviews – I worry what will happen to that open and honest conversation when the participants know that the people around them could have loaded guns in their backpacks.
In addition, Stipe cites statistics showing that many people in the state oppose the bill. 78 percent of Georgians have said they don't want it passed.
Stipe closes his op-ed, "I hope the governor listens to his constituents and does what's in the best interest of all citizens of Georgia by vetoing this dangerous bill."
Read the full essay here.
via Matthew Strauss
No comments:
Post a Comment