photoillustration/hayley doshay
T
he morning of March 5 found the hearing room and two overflow rooms on the third floor of the capitol building in Carson City packed with people awaiting the Assembly Judiciary Committee’s first hearing on Assembly Bill 148. The controversial measure introduced by Assemblymember Michele Fiore (R-Las Vegas) would allow “concealed carry” permit holders to bring their firearms with them to Nevada campuses.
Campus
targeted
There was some clapping as well as some jeers from the crowd as the first three people testified on Assembly Bill 148, but all three rooms fell silent when the fourth witness, Amanda Collins, was called on to speak via video conference. Most in attendance stared straight ahead. Some found places on the floor to give a thorough visual inspection as Collins began recounting what happened to her on the evening of Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, as she walked with her fellow classmates back to the Brian J. Whalen parking garage on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. “As I approached the parking garage, I was the only one who had parked on the ground floor,” Collins said, taking a long pause before continuing. “And seeing no visible threat between myself and my vehicle, I wished everyone a good week and broke off from the group. Approaching my vehicle at an angle, what I didn’t see was a man hunched down by the wheel well of
Story and photos by
Jeri Chadwell-Singley
Multiple bills emerge as the Nevada Legislature considers allowing guns on campus
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the committee by president-elect Caden Fabbi stated the student government’s belief that concealed weapons on campus would detract from the university’s designation as a place for the sharing of diverse ideas. A “Legislator Fact Sheet” submitted by NSHE conveyed a similar objection: Guns on campuses would have a chilling effect on academic freedom, robust classroom discussions and already difficult faculty/student discussions on failing grades. Opponents of the bill voiced a multitude of other concerns, including fears that concealed weapons on campus could increase the risk of suicides, deter academics from teaching at Nevada institutions, and create volatile situations during campus events where alcohol is served. Adam Garcia—veteran police officer and chief of police services at UNR—agrees, calling the bill a Pandora’s Box. According to Garcia, most of the seven states where campus carry is legal have provisions restricting firearms in places like dormitories and public entertainment venues. “A.B. 148 doesn’t do that,” Garcia says. “It’s just basically a blank check to say, ‘Here, if you have a CCW, you can carry it on a campus of NSHE.’ So, we would really be the minority of all these states, just kind of an extreme outlier if A.B. 148 passes.” Opponents of A.B. 148 were not the only ones to present a long list of reasons for their position during the March 5 hearing. In addition to their belief that concealed weapons can reduce the number of on-campus
a truck next to a sedan. As he passed me, he grabbed me, forced me to the cold, hard asphalt, placed a pistol to my temple, clicked off the safety, told me not to say anything, and then he began to brutally rape me.” Collins, who has spoken in favor of guns on campus many times both in Nevada and in other states, explained that as she was being raped, she could see university police cruisers parked only a few hundred feet away but knew that the university’s police office was closed for the evening. “So, while my body was being ripped apart, I knew no one was coming to help me,” Collins said. This session marks the third time “campus carry” legislation has been considered by the Nevada Legislature and the third time Collins has told state legislators that she believes campus carry is really a matter of allowing law-abiding citizens to choose their means of self-defense. “Unfortunately,” Collins said, “legislators and university officials opposed to campus carry are seemingly more intimidated by law abiding citizens like me—sitting in class with my legal, permitted firearm— than they are of the rapist waiting for me in the parking garage.”
d e b at e
in the crosshairs
After Collins, the committee listened to several hours of testimony from both proponents and opponents of A.B. 148, much of it closely echoing similar sentiments expressed during past sessions. Opponents of the measure include the leaders of the Nevada System of Higher Education [NSHE] and UNR’s student-government senate. A resolution delivered to
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