By Seth Richardson
In the Denver Post today, a story by Boulder Daily Camera writer Brittany Anas says that CU physics professor Jerry Peterson has threatened to cancel classes if he finds that one of his students is lawfully armed. “My own personal policy in my classes is if I’m aware that there is a firearm in the class–registered or unregistered–concealed or unconcealed–the class session is immediately cancelled,” Peterson is quoted as saying. “I want my students to feel unconstrained in their discussions.”
This sort of irrational fear of law-abiding citizens who go to the trouble of getting a permit to carry a concealed handgun is typical of hoplophobes. The word was coined in 1962 by one of the leading figures in armed self-defense training, the late Col. Jeff Cooper, who coined it in his book “To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak The Truth.” Cooper opined that hoplophobia was a “mental disturbance characterized by irrational aversion to weapons.” It derives from the word “hoplite,” which refers to the ancient Greek citizen-soldier who was expected to procure his own weapons and armor in order to serve in the militia when called to duty. The Spartans are perhaps the best known hoplites thanks to movies like “300.”
In the present usage, it means, broadly, “those who have an irrational fear of an armed citizenry,” a mental disturbance that’s quite typically seen in academia, which is these days severely infested with liberal panty-waists, Progressives and outright Marxists, all of whom see an armed citizenry as both a threat to their personal aggregations of power and privilege, and as an obstacle to their left-wing political agenda that requires a disarmed public in order to facilitate the sort of oppressive government control that these sort of wanna-be despots so desperately want in power.
An armed citizenry has always been an obstacle to tyranny and despotism, as well as a deterrent to criminality, as the Spartans and the authors of the U.S. Constitution well knew, which is precisely why the Founders forbade the federal government from infringing upon the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
When the Colorado General Assembly passed the Concealed Carry Act in 2003, it intended to divest not just the Regents of the University, but also every state employee, which includes professors, of any authority to regulate the lawful carrying of concealed weapons on campus. So when Professor Peterson threatens to cancel classes if he finds someone lawfully carrying a handgun, he’s violating state law. That’s bad enough, but what’s worse is that he is also defrauding the students who have paid to attend his classes, and the people of the State of Colorado who pay his salary. We don’t pay him to make hoplophobic political statements, we pay him to teach classes and ignore students who are lawfully exercising their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
If he can’t bring himself to be in the classroom with a lawfully-carried handgun, then he needs to be dismissed from his position at a public university and told to seek employment somewhere else. And if the Regents won’t do it, then some student who is defrauded by Professor Peterson by having a bought-and-paid-for class dismissed because Professor Peterson suffers from hoplophobia should sue the University and force them to either fire Peterson or order him to obey state law and do his job.
© 2012 Altnews
I’ll have to admit that I was more than a bit surprised to find that Seth Richardson is exactly right when he says Jerry Peterson would be violating state law not to allow a student holding a concealed carry permit to be in his class.
“The Colorado Supreme Court ruled against the Colorado Board of Regents yesterday, March 5, holding that the Regents’ ban on students’ ability to carry concealed handguns on campus violated the Colorado Concealed Carry Act of 2003; the Court declined to address the students’ claims that the ban violated the Colorado Constitution’s right to bear arms.”
Theocricide, I suggest you engage your brain long enough to find out how Col. Jeff Cooper came up with the neologism “hoplophobe.” Its a valid construct with its front end based on the Greek word “hoplite.”
Got carried away before — I may have been wrong. I’d like to see the law tested on this.
This is all ridiculous. There should never be guns in any classroom. I would be uneasy myself if I knew there was a hillbilly or worse yet hillbillies in the same room carrying guns. This is an issue with the College. They need to change there archaic gun policies. And there we go. I just fixed the problem
We are a violent country. I often wonder if this mind set was created by the very men who wrote our Constitution to uphold this right to deflect violence with more violence? After the Aurora shootings, I looked up other shootings in theaters and most were from people with permits to carry guns who lost their tempers and had the means with them to carry out a violent rebuttal. A controlled gun range is a much different place to shoot than in public with so many variables in play. I resent those who have visions of being a hero and saving the day; those opportunities rarely occur. Guns have infiltrated our society and I don’t believe anyone is safe anymore.
Nancy – please for your own education look at the facts: the states or cities with the most strict gun laws are the most violent – example Chicago – they have had 48 deaths in 45 days – multiple shooters – this does not include the ones who did not get killed yet Chicago is very strict – it is the hearts of the people that need to change. The number of deaths from knives dwarfs gun killing deaths.
What’s wrong with violence?
The President uses it every day, either to confiscate more of our wealth, or to murder more Pakistanis.
.. and he got re-elected ..
An aversion to firearms is not irrational. Rather, it is completely rational and based on well established facts. Study after study confirm that gun owners are more likely to die from a firearm injury than non-owners. Also, guns are used far more often to intimidate than in self-defense. Regardless of the legalities, the professor can make a rational case that he is enhancing the safety of his students by not tolerating guns in his classroom.
“Study after study?” Really? What studies? Please cite them so I can debunk them for you. All the “studies” that make this claim are fabrications of hoplophobes and gun-haters and have all been thoroughly debunked by experts.
And the professor doesn’t have the authority to make that decision. That’s what the Supreme Court just said. The Colorado General Assembly has the authority to make that decision for ALL state employees, which includes Professor Peterson. He can either abide by the law or find another job outside of the public university system.
“So when Professor Peterson threatens to cancel classes if he finds someone lawfully carrying a handgun, he’s violating state law”
Really? Is there a state law requiring professors to teach students packing heat? I seriously doubt there is.
In truth, I believe there is broad leeway for a professor to conduct (or not conduct) his or her class in a way that best benefits all students.
Carrying a concealed weapon w/permit only means one has shown proficiency in operating a firearm in a safe manner under strictly controlled conditions. It says nothing about a persons state of mind or intent to use that weapon outside of those controlled conditions.
You sir, are completely wrong in your vilification of this educator. Keep your nose out of his business.
Yes, there is a law, the Colorado Concealed Carry Law, which states that CCW permits are valid in “all areas” of the state, including classrooms at the state-owned University of Colorado. That being the case, Professor Peterson, who is a state employee, has no authority to attempt to control or regulate who lawfully carries a concealed handgun in his classes. Nor does he have the authority, as a state employee, to cancel classes based on the lawful conduct of a student. Doing so is perpetrating a fraud on not only the student with the lawfully-carried handgun because it discriminates against him/her in the providing of public services he/she has paid for, it’s a violation of the Professor’s contract with the University that requires him to teach classes and do so without discriminating against a protected class, which in this case includes students lawfully carrying a concealed handgun.
Seth, It would appear there are several misogynists among us. These cretins would rather have women raped and/or murdered than allow them to attend classes on campus armed for self protection. CU-Boulder has already paid dearly in the past for failing female students, to the tune of $2.8 million to be exact! See: http://www.denverpost.com/snowsports/ci_7640880
This is no different than a professor threatening to cancel class if a student argues a point contrary to the professor’s. Whether lawful CCW carry or lawful speech, the professor would be violating constitutionally protected rights of individuals.
The main point here, though, is that there most certainly is a law that protects CCW carry. State laws are not suspended in classrooms.
“hoplophobe?!” Lol…. I just about split a gut laughing a this desperate attempt to use a similar sounding word to homophobe….. Tell me, could it be, just maybe, that gun totting cu students are overcompensating for something? What do ou think shorty?
Like I said.
You’re not paranoid if they really are out to get you, and Frances Fox Piven and William Ayers prove beyond any doubt that they ARE out to get us.
Wow. You couldn’t wait to throw in William Ayers, huh? Where’s the relevance to this op ed? Oh, that’s right, there isn’t any.
“…and as an obstacle to their left-wing political agenda that requires a disarmed public in order to facilitate the sort of oppressive government control that these sort of wanna-be despots so desperately want in power.”
Seems to me you’re battling your own paranoia.
It’s not paranoia, Zen, it’s simply someone wiser than you stating the obvious. Our Founding Fathers made sure that citizens could be armed by building that right into the Constitution so that We The People would be able to fight government tyranny, should it ever arise.