Just one month before Mike Lewis and J.T. Helm decided to write their pro-gun pieces in Wednesday’s Alligator, 21-year-old FSU student Ashley Cowie was shot fatally in the chest. The shooter had been drinking earlier in the day and was showing off his rifle. Is that the kind of responsible gun use Lewis and Helm want to bring to our campus?
Carrying a weapon is unnecessary. The UF campus is a generally safe place. UF ranks favorably in terms of safety when compared with our SEC neighbors. How many incidents of violent crime have occurred on campus that could have been prevented by the assailed possession of a gun? I can think only of one – the case of Kofi Adu-Brempong.
Adu-Brempong was shot brutally in the face by our own UPD. The officer who shot him had undergone years of training in responsible gun use. It seems the only people we should be protecting ourselves from are these responsible gun owners.
Mike Lewis may find it easy to joke around about “John-Woo-style shootouts” but these two examples strike very close to home and perhaps can persuade him to broach the issue with a little more humility next time. In light of the recent tragedy at FSU, Helm and Lewis should be embarrassed for inviting guns to UF. After they have been so irresponsible with their words, why should we trust them with guns?
