Student Senate supports state Legislature's gun bill
Body opposes raising smoking age
Daniel McBride
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News
Barely reaching quorum, the Student Senate met Thursday evening in an irregular meeting where it supported guns on campus and opposed raising the legal smoking age.
After much debate, the Senate passed a resolution endorsing Louisiana legislation to allow guns on campus.
The student resolution supports Louisiana House of Representatives Bill No. 199, now under consideration in the House. If passed, the bill will authorize concealed handgun permit holders to bring their firearms onto Louisiana's higher education campuses.
The resolution was passed after hours of debate, during which the Senate considered two opposing resolutions: one against House Bill No. 199 and the other advocating it. The student resolution against the House bill failed to pass, and the resolution supporting the House bill - supporting guns on campus - reached a tie vote from the student representatives. Senate Speaker and President-elect Colorado Robertson cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the resolution.
The two-hour debate of the resolution - which spilled over from Wednesday's meeting - included hypothetical scenarios, Second Amendment considerations and scrutiny of Louisiana's concealed handgun regulations.
Much of the debate centered around whether the regulated presence of guns on campus would lead to an increase or decrease of campus safety.
Corey Graham, College of Engineering senator who wrote the resolution supporting concealed guns on campus, said it was an issue of students' rights. He said the right of citizens to bear arms should not be infringed upon, even if it made some students feel uncomfortable.
"I feel that it is the right of these students to bring ... their arms to school, concealed, with a permit," Graham said. "I feel that it would help."
Sen. Chris Sellers, University College Center for Freshman Year, spoke in opposition to House Bill No. 199. He argued the purpose of a university is to serve as a center of learning, and guns on campus would be a distraction.
After much debate, the Senate passed a resolution endorsing Louisiana legislation to allow guns on campus.
The student resolution supports Louisiana House of Representatives Bill No. 199, now under consideration in the House. If passed, the bill will authorize concealed handgun permit holders to bring their firearms onto Louisiana's higher education campuses.
The resolution was passed after hours of debate, during which the Senate considered two opposing resolutions: one against House Bill No. 199 and the other advocating it. The student resolution against the House bill failed to pass, and the resolution supporting the House bill - supporting guns on campus - reached a tie vote from the student representatives. Senate Speaker and President-elect Colorado Robertson cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the resolution.
The two-hour debate of the resolution - which spilled over from Wednesday's meeting - included hypothetical scenarios, Second Amendment considerations and scrutiny of Louisiana's concealed handgun regulations.
Much of the debate centered around whether the regulated presence of guns on campus would lead to an increase or decrease of campus safety.
Corey Graham, College of Engineering senator who wrote the resolution supporting concealed guns on campus, said it was an issue of students' rights. He said the right of citizens to bear arms should not be infringed upon, even if it made some students feel uncomfortable.
"I feel that it is the right of these students to bring ... their arms to school, concealed, with a permit," Graham said. "I feel that it would help."
Sen. Chris Sellers, University College Center for Freshman Year, spoke in opposition to House Bill No. 199. He argued the purpose of a university is to serve as a center of learning, and guns on campus would be a distraction.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Former Senator Boyd
posted 4/18/08 @ 10:34 AM CST
"and the resolution supporting the House bill - supporting guns on campus"
This statement is simply not true. This is another perfect example of the media pushing negative views on firearms. (Continued…)
GR8_GUY
posted 4/19/08 @ 2:09 AM CST
WAAAAY TO GO , L - S- U!!!
GO TIGERS!!!!
Retired Tiger-59
posted 4/20/08 @ 9:45 AM CST
Good the LSU Student Senate for defending their rights as adults. I would think the first right would be to self-defense. The gun bans & laws don't stop the bad guys, that is why we call them bad guys. (Continued…)
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