Young Americans for Liberty played dodgeball to advocate for campus carry on Friday.
The “Your Life, Your Right” event, which occurred two days after Hillsdale College went into a two-hour lockdown for a potential threat but was scheduled two months earlier, used dodgeballs to show the vulnerability of gun-free zones, YAL President junior Brendan Noble said.
The club split students into two teams and only gave one team dodgeballs, leaving the other team defenseless. It represented how difficult it is for unarmed civilians to defend themselves from active shooters, Noble said.
“What if there was an actual shooter?” Noble said. “We were basically sitting ducks.”
While Hillsdale College allows faculty and some staff members with a concealed pistol license to carry on campus so long as they notify Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé, it does not for students.
Despite the policy, Noble said the biggest obstacle to concealed carry on campus is state law. In Michigan, individuals may not have possession of a firearm in a classroom or dormitory.
Noble said he thinks concealed carry on campus would be a deterrent to criminals and would help students protect themselves from shooters.
But not all students are convinced.
Freshman Mitchell Biggs said Wednesday’s lockdown made him rethink his stance, leaving him torn on the issue.
“I was a much firmer believer in gun-free zones, until the lockdown,” Biggs said. “I never felt like there would ever be a need.”
Biggs said he is more sympathetic to campus carry, but he said he still doesn’t want students defending him.
“I’m much more comfortable with an officer of the law having a firearm and being on campus than a student who thinks it’s their turn to go out and engage with an active shooter,” Biggs said.
Biggs said he thinks the dodgeball metaphor for a gun-free zone is unfair.
“I don’t think it’s nearly as likely as this makes it look,” Biggs said. “The odds are not quite this bad.”
Freshman Madeline Hedrick said she is conflicted about gun-free zones, too.
“On the one hand, I really do see that if someone gets on campus with a gun, and no one else has guns, then it is really easy for that person to cause damage,” Hedrick said. “But at the same time, if someone who has a lot of issues is allowed to conceal carry on campus, then the presence of a gun instantly escalates the situation.”
Hedrick said she would like well-trained people to carry guns on campus.
“If you don’t follow the rules in a gun-free zone, then you can take the power of life and death in your hands,” Hedrick said. “And the people who follow the rules can’t do anything about it.”