Candidate supports college club's push for student weapons
By John Hilliard/Daily News staff The MetroWest Daily News
FRAMINGHAM — A U.S. Senate candidate supported some Framingham State College students who said yesterday, on the anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, that they want the ability to protect themselves.
Jeff Beatty, a Republican from Harwich who is vying for the Senate seat held by John Kerry, appeared at a forum yesterday hosted by students at the campus. Members of the college's conservative group have said students should have the option to carry a weapon on campus for protection. The school also is considering whether to issue guns to its police force.
Beatty signed a petition circulated around the campus by school's conservative students group that calls for legislation to allow students to carry "lawful defense tools" while on campus. The group said 225 people have signed the petition.
Framingham Police, along with college President Timothy Flanagan and other officials, support an armed campus force. A campus panel of faculty, staff and administrators issued a report last year recommending weapons for police.
Beatty did not say specifically whether he favored college students carrying weapons, only that the Second Amendment should apply to every citizen regardless of their location, he said.
"They're still a citizen, they're still an adult," said Beatty of college students. Beatty said adult college students need to be able to protect themselves before police can arrive at a dangerous incident. He compared the situation to the World Trade Center, when some people were told to stay inside the towers. He said authorities may need time to appear or might not be aware of all the dangers, leaving those involved to protect themselves.
"You are ultimately responsible for your own life," Beatty told students.
Student T.J. Lincoln said the conservative group has already given Flanagan a copy of the petition, and Lincoln said he hopes to meet with Flanagan to discuss the group's concerns. At a previous college forum, Lincoln called on school officials to allow legally eligible students to carry guns and other weapons like pepper spray.
College spokesman Peter Chisholm said the board of trustees has not scheduled a vote on arming the school's police force. The board meets again May 15, he said.
Under state law, weapons are forbidden on school grounds, except for those carried by police. Guns require owners to be at least 21 years old, which would exclude many current college students. Flanagan has said he wouldn't lobby for changes in that state law.
Beatty, 55, was a member of the U.S. military's Delta Force that was sent to rescue American medical students held hostage in Grenada in 1983. During the mission, the helicopter he was flying in was shot down and he suffered injuries from the crash. He and other survivors were rescued by fellow soldiers.
In 2006, the Harwich resident unsuccessfully ran against U.S. Rep. William Delahunt for the 10th Congressional District.
(John Hilliard can be reached at 508-626-4449 or jhilliar@cnc.com.)
Posted by: Kilvinsky
My ONLY statement is, if they OK arming students FASTER than they OK'd arming the cops (which is still actually pending, right?), there's something VERY FISHY going on.
But I doubt the former will ever happen.
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