Hey guys and gals,
It has been forever since I have read/posted anything on here. Law school is rough! Before studying for finals starts I wanted to post an update on what myself (and another member) have been up to for the past few weeks...er months...how long has it been since I was on here? Anyway a member and I talked and they suggested I write up something about my antics so as to show others that they can do exactly what I did (be a new guy into defending liberty and simply using public resources, free speech, and the law on my side to make the common sense arguments). 1450 words...I think I may need to break this post up into sections....
Back in the Spring I heard of a fellow student meeting with the Dean of students regarding self defense and protest options on campus. What came of that? We could have empty holsters, but nothing 3D looking like a gun. 2D pictures were ok, but nothing that could be considered as a "realistic replica". Because said student also brought up the prohibition on having "anything that may cause harm to another person" such as pepper spray or tasers, those were banned too? Nope, not according to the Dean, as long as they didn't look like guns. Only one taser model falls under that category, the Bolt.
So there were some issue in open carrying said Taser, which the Dean, as the final authority on the Student Code of Conduct, said is ok. Campus police kept harassing said student, dragging them out of class dozens of times. After about 4-6 meetings with the Dean, Deputy Chief, and Chief of Police for ULPD, they finally yielded (by conferring with their general council) that as carrying a gun with a valid license to conceal carry was not a crime on campus (and openly at all without any license), but merely a policy violation, police/security COULD respond (I made it clear that they didn't even have to per Supreme Court rulings on carrying a gun not making you a threat or as probable cause to stop you and that police had no duty to prevent crimes merely enforce laws) ULPD would at most stand outside any classroom they suspected had a gun in it and wait to hear signs of distress. No more patdowns, no more lectures, they would simply check for a CCW license and suggest any potential weapons on your person be removed from campus or placed in a vehicle. This happened without me even being aware students had already been patted down and such.
Also in March I had noticed a violation of preemption by the Office for the Blind. Their McDowell center is a rehabilitation center for those who are blind and need to learn how to live their lives with their disabilities. I did not see any "no guns" signs but in a small paragraph in their student guidebook it prohibited all weapons, including firearms, on their property. According to their own website and publications the Kentucky Office For the Blind is part of the Department of Workforce Investment, under the Education and Workforce Cabinet. The McDowell Center is a rehabilitation center, and does not fall under the "postsecondary" or "trade school" terminology. They did not want to listen to my phone calls so I emailed them all of this. Still little to no response. The director did respond to me and after saying they'd check with their Legal Counsel (I looked up who that was specifically and inferred that I was aware of who said lawyer was by name and former law firm - gotta love public info and flow charts published by KY gov). A bout a month later the issue was resolved to my satisfaction.
At law school I have been as vocal as ever! I wear my empty holster and all the gun owners are like "you fool!" Oddly enough I can't find anyone who is actually anti-gun completely. At least half are gun owners. I even have hard-core Hilary fans who own AR15s and want 1000yd capable rifles. Go figure. I have been told my passion makes approaching me undesirable as the anti-gun crowd won't even bother. The pro-gun folks are chatting every now and then on new gun purchases, range visits, etc. I made no secret of my work with gun rights in my application process and neither UK nor UofL turned me down...so...
Last week there was a Malcolm X debate series talk on gun control. I had no idea who Malcom-X was, but the atmosphere was an auditorium with a couple dozen black kids, a few white kids sitting in the back, and a biased moderator letting two first year students give short speeches on the pro/cons of gun control. Questions by/for the audience were allowed for the remainder of the 1-2hr even and I made sure to speak up a few times. At the start the cards were stacked against me but half way through I asked "who here knows for certain I am not armed?". Oh the tension was palpable, everyone looked towards the one door I was not sitting next to (I wasn't sitting in the back but there wasn't anyone sitting directly behind me for all intents and purposes). The started saying "but the sign! guns aren't allowed!" some folks thought I'd be breaking the law. In the end they understood that they couldn't tell, it wasn't illegal, and they were left to be victims. Now, a large black man in plain clothes did pop in a few seconds/minutes later and didn't leave until I was done talking and then some. At the end I had these kids realizing that their calls for "gun control", "insurance", "licensing", "training" were all good ideas in theory, but they were only going to hurt one group of people the most - the poor. And they admitted to me that, yes, most black people are poor, and a single mother living in a bad neighborhood couldn't afford a $2000 training class/ammo, $500/mo insurance, and $1000/yr licensing just to protect her children. They understood that gun control was how their beloved socialist/communists got the masses under control by killing 100million+ of the political dissidents in their countries. And of course at the end the moderator told me she thought maybe only heterosexual white males shouldn't own guns, and she could say this because she was gay...sigh.
Today, we had Supreme Court Justice Keagan talking to students. It was an interesting experience being so close to someone in a position of such debate in politics. I'll let you all know if I'm allowed to talk about the questions asked. But just as exciting was the response of the U.S Marshalls to my empty holster. One of them had their eyes bulge out (so say my fellow classmate, who is also a gun owner) as I walked in a few minutes late, apparently they followed me with their eyes and started texting a lot. I really wasn't planning on going, but thought the school went through the trouble of inviting someone like her down here, I should take the time to be there. Afterwards I went to the library (where I had been in a room since 9am). Apparently the dean of law and company had the same idea and took a shortcut as I saw said security detail a door away from my study room. I walked on by got my water bottle and as I went to fill it up (they were standing literally between my room and the water fountain waiting on Justice Keagan to come out of some special rare books room) I noticed the youngest agent was printing and asked what Marshalls carried. He didn't respond right away, said it was classified, that I could probably google it or something. For the record, that info is on their website in an article titled "A day in the life...". As I am filling up my bottle the ULPD officer gets REAL close behind me and asks what I carry. "HK P30 full size in 9mm". He asked for my name. _____. Last name? _____ He thought he recognized me. I told him his boss did. About what, he asked? Campus carry. Oh, that's right, I was part of that whole thing with the..."tasers, open carrying" I put in. "But you're not the one open carrying a Taser, that's..." ______ "yes Mr. _____" the officer finished. To be fair, now that I think about it I think he was the guy that stuck around the debate after my gun question....maybe that's why he said I looked familiar. I made sure the suits could hear the conversation. "Campus carry" and "Taser" got their attention.
And I think that's everything, for now muahahahaha!
You can do it too!!!
