Shot in the Dark

The Railroad Runs On Time

Last spring, Ed and I covered the ongoing story of Troy Scheffler, a student at Hamline University who was apparently suspended and told to seek mental health treatment after speaking in favor of individual, armed self-defense in the wake of the Virginia Tech mass-murder.

King from SCSU Scholars notes that while some people get it…:

The interim suspension, enforced on April 23, continues in place to this day, according to a press release from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

“Hamline’s punishment of Troy Scheffler is severe, unfair, and apparently unwarranted,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. “Peacefully advocating for students’ ability to carry a concealed weapon as a response to the Virginia Tech shootings may be controversial, but it simply does not justify ordering a mandatory psychological evaluation.”

…others – like Hamline University – clearly do not: 

There has been no movement, apparently, since Mitch and Ed interviewed him. I had a chance to talk with Troy before he went on their show and I did not find anything in him that appeared in any way “nutty”.

Beyond that, Scheffler is a concealed carry permit holder in the state of Minnesota; he’s over 21, has passed a background check and a training course, is free of any record of drug or alcohol abuse or violent mental illness, and has never had a cop note that he has a penchant for violence.  He is, demonstrably and statistically, a supremely good risk.

No, Hamline University; it isn’t about his mental health.  It’s about his beliefs:

 But apparently the willingness of a person to argue for concealed carry permits as a way of defending yourself on a campus from a Virginia Tech-style homicidal rage is so far outside Hamline’s experience as to lead to such speculation. And, it would appear, reason to deny Scheffler any form of due process within Hamline’s judicial system.

I’ve continually tried to interview someone from Hamline on this issue.  I will try again.

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Mitch Berg

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7 responses to “The Railroad Runs On Time”

  1. Bill C Avatar
    Bill C

    What are all the stereotypical phrases that the jack-booted, head in the sand, marching in lockstep with the party, “ignoring factual data for ideological mythology” leftists like to paint conservatives with?

    Oh yeah…

    A caller on a morning show today nailed it: How can anyone believe that someone who spends several hundred dollars or more on weapons and ammo, with the intent to kill as many people as possible, and often themselves at the end of it all, think that a sign on a door saying “DANGEROUS WEAPONS ARE BANNED ON THESE PREMISES” will make a bit of difference? Like the shooter would stop and say “Crap, now I can’t go through with this. No guns allowed here. I better go home.”

  2. Chuck Avatar
    Chuck

    That was the same with Moores anti-gun movie. He had a scene with where a bank gave away a hunting rifle if you open a large account. First of all, it was staged. The gun was sent to you, not picked up in the bank, but besides that, Moore said he could then rob the bank with the rifle they just gave you. Thing is, they would know who you are since you just opened an account there. Plus the account had to be rather significant, more then you’d get if you robbed the bank, so what would be the point?

  3. nerdbert Avatar
    nerdbert

    This’s even getting attention in the British tech press, Mitch.

    http://www.theregister.com/2007/10/11/gun_rights_uni_row/

    probably as a result of Declan McCullagh’s blog posting on it at Cnet

    http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9795510-38.html

  4. nerdbert Avatar
    nerdbert

    Hey, Mitch. How about Declan McCullagh’s blog at Cnet? He actually got Hamline to talk to him on Wednesday according to this entry: http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9795510-38.html. Apparently he’s got more pull than you.

    Pretty cool, but it’s even on the other side of the Atlantic. The Register, an irreverant British tech tabloid/rag, had an article on it here http://www.theregister.com/2007/10/11/gun_rights_uni_row/, which is how I found the Cnet blog posting. The comments on that post are about what you’d expect from Europe and the US on the issue.

    (Sorry if this is a dupe. I tried to post once and strange things happened.)

  5. nate Avatar
    nate

    The guy’s supposedly pursuing a Master’s degree; yet, although the student has been kept out of school two semesters, he’s not suing.

    I also can’t find anything about the student appealing his suspension (I assume Hamline has some internal appeal process).

    The student hasn’t exhausted his administrative remedies, and hasn’t filed suit; he’s just bitching in the media.

    I conclude he has no case and knows it. The only question is why.

    AC -you’re a lawyer. What’s your take on his tactics? Softening up the jury pool? Angling for a nuisance settlement?

    .

  6. Lady Logician

    Drop Out?…

    Here is an interesting off-shoot (pun intended) of the Virginia Tech tragedy. (HT Best of the Web Today)

    College students across the country have been strapping empty holsters around their waists this week to protest laws that prohibit……

  7. wesmorgan1 Avatar
    wesmorgan1

    So, how do you expect school administrators to react when a student signs themselves as “Tough Guy,” tells you that they carry a concealed weapon AND starts complaining about “lenient” standards for minorities, the lack of emphasis on “white European” things and the presence of atheists and Jews?

    If you think that “I’m a student who owns a handgun, and I don’t like what minorities are doing here, and I don’t like the atheist and Jewish faculty” should NOT raise a red flag–especially so soon after VaTech–then you need to take a step back and reconsider.

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