State Students Involved In 'Empty Holster Protest'

It's being reported that some Oklahoma college and university students are participating in a nationwide "Empty Holster Protest" on campuses.

Leaders say it's an attempt to make the point that unarmed students are, and have been, targets for killers.

TMRO is told the demonstration is being conducted on the campuses of the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

The group's website, http://concealedcampus.org/index.htm, states that, "During the week of October 22-26, participating students and faculty at over 110 colleges and universities throughout America will wear empty holsters on campus, in protest of state laws and school policies that stack the odds in favor of armed killers by disarming law abiding citizens licensed to carry concealed handguns virtually everywhere else (movie theaters, office buildings, shopping malls, etc). The symbolic point of the Empty Holster Protest is to represent that students, faculty, and guests on college campuses are left defenseless (with nothing but empty holsters) by state laws and school policies that refuse to afford concealed handgun license holders the same rights on college campuses that they are afforded virtually everywhere else. The practical point of the Empty Holster Protest is to encourage a dialogue between protesters and individuals who may not know the facts of concealed carry."

At OSU, a number of students are participating and the O'Collegian talked to some of them, plus university officials and others, about it. The student newspaper reported that, "Although opponents of concealed carry argue allowing people to carry guns will cause an increase in gun violence, Stillwater Deputy Chief Ron Thrasher said he doesn’t know of any instances in Stillwater where a concealed carry license was involved in a crime."

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