I’m guessing this gun owner, this gun owner, this gun owner, this gun owner, this gun owner, this gun owner, this gun owner, this gun owner, this gun owner, this gun owner, this gun owner, and this gun owner would disagree with the good police chief.
Chief Richard Beary
Campus Reform has a report about The University of Central Florida (UCF) police chief who wrote an op-ed in the school’s independent publication. His goal was to “debunk the myth that a good guy with a gun always can and will save the day.”
Chief Richard Beary built his argument on “decades of training and law enforcement experience,” saying “an untrained person with a legally owned gun is more of a threat to themselves and others than they are a helper of the law.”
Beary states that law enforcement officers may be the only citizens with the proper experience to deal with an active shooter situation. “A concealed weapons permit does not make you a hero. A concealed weapons permit does not teach you how to deal with an active shooter. A concealed weapons permit does not make you a trained law enforcement officer,” he added.
Excerpts from his op-ed:
“However, conversations in Tallahassee about allowing the open carry of weapons on college and university campuses cause me great distress. Campus-carry would dramatically change the job of a UCF Police officer, making it more challenging for us to keep UCF safe. My opinion is not based on politics, but rather life experience.
I have spent nearly 40 years in law enforcement and have been a firearms instructor for 29 years. I became police chief at UCF in 2007.
I applaud those who have the desire to protect themselves and the people around them.
However, I fall back on decades of training and law enforcement experience when I say that open carry of weapons would not make them or their peers any safer. On the contrary, it would create hostility and chaos.
You want to be a hero? Do the right thing. Take care of yourself. Look out for others. Call for help if you or someone you know is in distress. Those are the keys to keeping UCF a safe place to live and learn, not by putting guns in the hands of undertrained people in high-stress settings.”
I like how he moves around from conceal carry to open carry. Two different issues, IMO. Read the rest of the article here.
The man is entitled to his opinion. And so am I. In certain situations, I’m not going to be able to call for help in my home if I am in distress. That’s why I practice my Second Amendment right.
DCG