Of Arms and the Law: Prof. calls police after student discusses guns in class
“Last October, John Wahlberg and two classmates at Central Connecticut State University gave an oral presentation for a communications class taught by Professor Paula Anderson. The assignment was to discuss a “relevant issue in the media,” and the students presented their view that the death toll in the April 2007 Virginia Tech shooting massacre would have been lower if professors and students had been carrying guns.
That night, police called Wahlberg, a 23-year-old senior, and asked him to come to the station. When he arrived, they they read off a list of firearms that were registered in his name and asked where he kept them. Guns are strictly prohibited on the CCSU campus and residence halls, but Wahlberg says he lives 20 miles off-campus and keeps his gun collection locked up in a safe. No further action was taken by police or administrators.
“I don’t think that Professor Anderson was justified in calling the CCSU police over a clearly non-threatening matter,” Wahlberg told The Recorder, the CCSU student newspaper that first reported the story. “Although the topic of discussion may have made a few individuals uncomfortable, there was no need to label me as a threat.””
This is pure harassment, of course. Nothing but.
But, to get into the spirit of things: if anyone in the good professor’s class had referred to the use of a controlled substance, would the police have been called? How about underage drinking? What if the class presentation had been in favor of legalizing currently illegal substances? Grounds for police intervention?
Somehow, in the professor’s mind, anyone who even speaks of firearms in any non-derogatory way is automatically suspect.
I bet the professor is on the Diversity Council, and preaches far and wide about tolerance and accepting people who have different perspectives than yours.
Any takers? It seems that more and more, the following equation is true:
professor = hypocrite
I wish it was true less often than it seems to be.
March 15th, 2009 2:01 pm
That would make you a hypocrite too, I assume.
March 15th, 2009 7:29 pm
I said this:
In standard leftist fashion, however, you seem to have chosen to quote only part of a qualified statement and try to make it appear to be an absolute.
Or did YOU mean to call me a hypocrite? If so, it would be interesting to hear you make the case.
March 15th, 2009 8:42 pm
Ahhh! The return of Dave. We’ve missed you!
March 16th, 2009 10:52 am
Fair enough… you qualified it. Kind of.
I think it is funny that you make somewhat of a blanket statement, with a very weak qualifier, about professors.
Hypocrites are everywhere. On the left. On the right. In the classroom. In the pulpit. On blogs.
Of course… I never hear you talk about hypocrites not on the left. But that is standard around here.
And Melody… thanks for adding to the discussion. You do it so well.
March 16th, 2009 11:26 am
The standard way to blunt an accurate criticism is to say “everybody does it” and by saying that imply that it doesn’t matter.
But it simply isn’t true that the same failings exist in the same ratio in every group. I think there are lots more hypocrites on the Left than on the Right. Perhaps you disagree.
So feel free, if you wish, to point out hypocritical Right leaning professors… if you can find any.
March 16th, 2009 11:39 am
LOL. I am sure you do.
March 16th, 2009 11:40 am
Oh… and I never said hypocrisy didn’t matter. My point is that it is a bit hypocritical to point out one side’s hypocrisy without pointing out the hypocrisy on your own side.
I admit that I am guilty of this at times. And clearly so are you.
March 16th, 2009 12:19 pm
Dave, you said, “it is a bit hypocritical to point out one side’s hypocrisy without pointing out the hypocrisy on your own side”.
But that’s only true if you think hypocrisy is equally common on both sides. I don’t. Simple reason, by the way. People on the Right, and professors in particular, pay a huge price for being caught in hypocrisy. People on the Left, and professors in particular, tend to pay no price, or a very small one.
That’s because people on the Right actually believe it’s a sin, and tend to punish each other for it, in addition to the schadenfreud of the Left when the Right errs. People on the Left don’t even believe IN sin, in that sense, generally speaking. Like, it’s OK to hypocritical if you’re basically doing good things, like legally stealing money from productive people and giving it to someone else in order to get re-elected.
So your suggestion is really still rooted in the notion that hypocrisy is equally distributed around the world, in all categories and perspectives. It’s a curious belief: about like thinking everyone has the same blood sugar level, all the time.
March 16th, 2009 4:13 pm
March 16th, 2009 4:14 pm
Lets try that again…
Oh my… thanks for reminding me how little credibility you have, and why I don’t come around here too much anymore.
March 16th, 2009 4:44 pm
I don’t intend to offend. I’m simply reporting what the Left says about itself. Do you not believe that the Left proceeds from a different point of view on the matter of sin and personal responsibility than the Right?
Generally, it is the Left that derides the very notion of personal sin when the Right brings it up. (For example, when was the last time you heard someone who pretends to be pro-life but is a Democrat, or otherwise on the Left, speak about abortion as a sin? If you can find one, send me the link. Then go look for another one.)
Generally, the Left believes in “corporate” sin much more… i.e., it’s society’s fault when someone does something “sinful”, etc. Have you had a different experience? Just curious…