LETTER: Campus carry article full of fear-mongering

To the editor:

I could not believe the report on campus carry was a “news” article instead of an opinion piece (“UNLV protesters take aim at campus carry bill,” March 26 Review-Journal). It was not only biased, it contained blatant fear-mongering that went entirely unchecked.

One protester, Caitlyn Caruso, was quoted as saying that faculty, students, student government and the UNLV president must “speak up and stand with us, or our lives are on the line.” Caleb Green was quoted as saying, “There just isn’t any support for this from students,” adding that having guns on campus would make it more dangerous for minority students and would stifle UNLV’s goal of becoming a top-tier research university. Two other sources were also against campus carry.

There is zero evidence that anyone’s life would be in danger by allowing law-abiding, legally permitted concealed carry permit holders to bring their weapons onto campus. In fact, the more dangerous scenario is that students are being robbed of their ability to defend themselves on an open campus, where there is no mechanism to ensure that there aren’t illegal weapons on campus right now — in the hands of students and nonstudents who choose not to follow laws.

Concealed carry permit holders are citizens 21 and older who have gone through the necessary background checks, training and proficiency requirements to earn their right to carry a concealed weapon. How can anyone claiming to favor gun control turn around and refuse to support the rights of those who have gone through that process?

Allowing the assertion that there is no support of campus carry from students proves the author did no research for this article. Three organizations at UNLV with a combined membership of more than 1,200 students — Students for Campus Carry, UNLV College Republicans and Young Americans for Liberty — support campus carry and Assembly Bill 148. As a UNLV student and former student body president, I also support campus carry and AB148.

Yet not a single contrary voice was included in this article. Even worse, including comments that claim legal concealed carry permit holders are a threat to minority students is disgusting and ignorant, in that it assumes there are no legally permitted minority student gun owners.

Hyperbole, fear-mongering and shoddy reporting notwithstanding, AB148 would simply afford the small number of concealed carry permit holders the ability to defend themselves on campus — just as they can off-campus — and remove the need to leave their weapon at home on days when they travel to campus, which robs them of their right to self-defense everywhere.

MARK CIAVOLA

LAS VEGAS