Curley: Gun-free zones are safe havens for killers

A group of students planning to protest a law that allows people to carry guns on campus has created some controversy of its own.

University of Texas students plan to openly carry sex toys on campus on the first day of “long session” classes on Aug. 24, because they are just as effective at stopping mass shootings as someone bringing a gun to class, according to Jessica Jin, who started the Facebook page to promote the protest.

Jin and other students are protesting Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s “campus carry” law that allows license holders the right to carry concealed handguns through university campuses. The law goes into effect Aug. 1, 2016.

But is it really that bad to allow people to carry weapons on campus? KIRO Radio’s John Curley would argue that there would be fewer mass shootings at schools if other people had weapons to protect themselves. At the very least, fewer people would die.

John Curley: Do you want to take away my right to protect myself? If I want to go kill someone, the first place I’m going to go is a gun-free zone … You’re more likely to go someplace where you know everybody has been disarmed by the law.

Tom Tangney: We, as a society, make these determinations. These mass shootings happen because there are masses of people. Gun-free zones or not. They shoot people in malls just like schools. These guys are crazy. They are going to do whatever they can.

JC: So they’re not going to follow the law?

TT: Of course not.

JC: But I’m going to follow the law?

TT: They won’t be allowed to get a gun. That’s how we’ll get them to follow the law.

JC: Obviously, that’s not working.

TT: The reason these mass shootings happen is because there are lot of people. If parks were gun-free, would only people with guns who wanted to create mass murder go there? It’s where people are gathered.

JC: Right, it’s a place of opportunity. If you want to kill as many as possible without getting killed, you go to a gun-free place. The people who obey laws don’t brings guns, then crazy guy says, “Good, I’ll shoot a bunch of people without getting shot.” Then the people who obey the laws are sitting ducks.

You say: John, you don’t need to defend yourself, we’ll let the cops defend you or systems in place.

TT: Yes, more people get hurt by their own guns than defend themselves.

JC: When you go to get on a plane, they search us. They make sure we’re all equal. They’ve searched all of us equally … nobody is armed. We’re all in it together. But these schools just put up a sticker that says “gun-free zone.” I’m just saying you’re taking away my right to defend myself.

TT: Yes, because your right to defend yourself puts my life at risk. Because you don’t want everyone with guns on campuses, you’re safer without them.

JC: Guns are there to protect individuals.

TT: Not if you don’t want to be protected by the crazy individual.

JC: You would be pro-gun the instant there was a shooter.

Though it will become law in 2016, the president of the University of Texas is working to create policies that conform to the new law and protect people on campus.