SMCM President Calls for Gun Control Action

[David (Premo)]

The college sent out this press advisory today. Gov. O'Malley might want to speak with his employee (SMCM is owned by the state, regardless of the fact that it has its own independent board) and ask him why he is involving himself in politics, let alone an issue like this.

SMCM President Calls for Gun Control Action

(St. Mary’s City, MD) December 20, 2012—Following the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., St. Mary’s College of Maryland President, Joseph R. Urgo, has co-signed an open letter urging President Obama and Congress to take immediate action on gun control.

"All academic institutions from grade schools to colleges and universities are responsible for the educational preparation of our youth,” said President Joseph R. Urgo. "Within this duty to educate, we must not forget the well-being of the full person, physical as well as intellectual. I’ve joined a community of my peers to make it imperative that we work to end the cycle of mass killing made possible by assault weapons. As a college president, I owe my students—and as citizens of a great country, we owe our youth—a safe environment in which to study, to grow, and without fear to become the next generation of adults."

Generate by Presidents Lawrence M. Schall of Oglethorpe University and Elizabeth Kiss of Agnes Scott College, both in Atlanta, Ga., the letter, in only 48-hours, has been signed by more than 170 college and university presidents from across the country. The letter, in its entirety, is below.

December 19, 2012

On the same day our nation learned in horror that 20 first graders and six educators were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School, young people around the country were learning if they had been accepted to their favored colleges and universities. For many years now, our nation’s leaders have engaged in fevered debates on higher education, yet lawmakers shy away from taking action on one issue that prevents thousands of young people from living lives of promise, let alone realizing their college dreams. That issue is gun safety.

Among the world's 23 wealthiest countries, 80% of all gun deaths occur in the United States and 87% of all children killed with guns are killed here (Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery). In 2010, 2,694 young people were killed by gunfire. 1,773 were victims of homicide; 67 were elementary school-age children. If those children and teens were alive today, they would fill 108 classrooms of 25 each.

We are college and university presidents. We are parents. We are Republicans, Democrats and Independents. We urge both our President and Congress to take action on gun control now. As a group, we do not oppose gun ownership. But, in many of our states, legislation has been introduced or passed that would allow gun possession on college campuses. We oppose such laws. We fully understand that reasonable gun safety legislation will not prevent every future murder. Identification and treatment of the mental health issues that lie beneath so many of the mass murders to which we increasingly bear witness must also be addressed.

As educators and parents, we come together to ask our elected representatives to act collectively on behalf of our children by enacting rational gun safety measures, including:

-- Ensuring the safety of our communities by opposing legislation allowing guns on our campuses and in our classrooms

-- Ending the gun show loophole, which allows for the purchase of guns from unlicensed sellers without a criminal background check

-- Reinstating the ban on military-style semi-automatic assault weapons along with high-capacity ammunition magazines

-- Requiring consumer safety standards for all guns, such as safety locks, access prevention laws, and regulations to identify, prevent and correct manufacturing defects

The time has long since passed for silence and inaction on the issue of reasonable and rational gun safety legislation. We hereby request that our nation’s policy leaders take thoughtful and urgent action to ensure that current and future generations may live and learn in a country free from the threat of gun violence.

[David (Premo)]

and all of the signers of the aforementioned letter:

Respectfully,

Lawrence M. Schall, Oglethorpe University (GA)

Elizabeth Kiss, Agnes Scott College (GA)

James Gozzo, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (NY)

Jeff Abernathy, Alma College (MI)

Tom Flynn, Alvernia University (PA)

Mary Meehan, Alverno College (WI)

David Seyle, Andrew College (GA)

Jack P. Calareso, Anna Maria College (MA)

Steven Bahls, Augustana College (IL)

Rebecca Sherrick, Aurora University (IL)

Marjorie Hass, Austin College (TX)

Debora Spar, Barnard College (NY)

Clayton Spencer, Bates College (ME)

Elizabeth Coleman, Bennington College (VT)

Scott D. Miller, Bethany College (WV)

Charles Krulak, Birmingham Southern College (AL)

Richard A. Levao, Bloomfield College (NJ)

Barry Mills, Bowdoin College (ME)

Ed Schrader, Brenau University (GA)

Kristin King, Bryn Athyn College (PA)

John Bravman, Bucknell University (PA)

Nancy H. Blattner, Caldwell College (NJ)

Daniel Lowery, Calumet College of St. Joseph (IN)

Deborah C. Jackson, Cambridge College (MA)

James P. Loftus, Cardinal Stritch University (WI)

J. Randall O’Brien, Carson-Newman College (TN)

John Roush, Centre College (KY)

Esther L. Barazzone, Chatham University (PA)

John Smarrelli Jr., Christian Brothers University (TN)

Pamela Brooks Gann, Claremont McKenna College (CA)

Carlton E. Brown, Clark Atlanta University (GA)

James Phifer, Coe College (IA)

Robert Wyatt, Coker College (SC)

William D. Adams, Colby College (ME)

MaryAnn Baenninger, College of Saint Benedict (MN)

Francis Raftery, College of Saint Elizabeth (NJ)

Maryanne Stevens, College of Saint Mary (NE)

Maryanne Stevens, College of Saint Mary (NE)

Jill Tiefenthaler, Colorado College (CO)

Steve Hayner, Columbia Theological Seminary (GA)

Charles Schlimpert, Concordia University (OR)

Leo I. Higdon, Jr., Connecticut College (CT)

Jonathan Brand, Cornell College (IA)

Dale T. Knobel, Denison University (OH)

Brian Casey, DePauw University (IN)

William G. Durden, Dickinson College (PA)

Walter M. Kimbrough, Dillard University (LA)

Vivian A. Bull, Drew University (NJ)

Loren Swartzendruber, Eastern Mennonite University (VA)

Donald Eastman, Eckerd College (FL)

Lee Pelton, Emerson College (MA)

Rosalind Reichard, Emory & Henry College (VA)

J. David Arnold, Eureka College (IL)

Jennifer L. Braaten, Ferrum College (VA)

William T Abare, Flagler College (FL)

Keith Taylor, Gannon University (PA)

Janet Morgan Riggs, Gettysburg College (PA)

Barbara Vacarr, Goddard College (VT)

Sanford J. Ungar, Goucher College (MD)

John Sellars, Graceland University (IA)

Paul J. Fonteyn, Green Mountain College (VT)

Joan Hinde Stewart, Hamilton College (NY)

Mark D. Gearan, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY)

Nancy Oliver Gray, Hollins University (VA)

Richard F. Wilson, Illinois Wesleyan University (IL)

S. Georgia Nugent, Kenyon College (OH)

Teresa L. Amott, Knox College (IL)

Candace Introcaso, La Roche College (PA)

Daniel H. Weiss, Lafayette College (PA)

Michael T. Victor, Lake Erie College (OH)

Stephen D. Schutt, Lake Forest College (IL)

Brian F. Linnane, Loyola University Maryland (MD)

Richard L. Torgerson, Luther College (IA)

Brian Rosenberg, Macalester College (MN)

Jo Young Switzer, Manchester University (IN)

Brennan O'Donnell, Manhattan College (NY)

Judson R. Shaver, Marymount Manhattan College (NY)

James M. Dennis, McKendree University (IL)

Tom Gamble, Mercyhurst University (PA)

Jo Allen, Meredith College (NC)

Ronald D. Liebowitz, Middlebury College (VT)

Alecia A. DeCoudreaux, Mills College (CA)

Rob Pearigen, Millsaps College (MS)

Michael Macdowell, Misericordia University (PA)

Mary Ellen Jukoski, Mitchell College (CT)

Stephen D. Immerman, Montserrat College of Art (MA)

Cecilia Fitzgibbon, Moore College of Art and Design (PA)

Robert Franklin, Morehouse College (GA)

David Wilson, Morgan State University (MD)

John Reynders, Morningside College (IA)

Lynn Pasquerella, Mount Holyoke College (MA)

Joseph N. Benoit, Mount Marty College (SD)

Ann McElaney-Johnson, Mount St. Mary's College (CA)

David Schleich, National College of Natural Medicine (OR)

Frederik Ohles, Nebraska Wesleyan University (NE)

Noreen M. Carrocci, Newman University (KS)

Michael A. Miller, Northland College (WI)

Andrew P. Roth, Notre Dame College (OH)

Jonathan Veitch, Occidental College (CA)

Kathy A. Krendl, Otterbein University (OH)

Sandra Harper, Our Lady of the Lake College (LA)

Thomas Manley, Pacific Northwest College of Art (OR)

Ezat Parnia, Pacific Oaks College & Children’s School (CA)

James Mellichamp, Piedmont College (GA)

Paul Hennigan, Point Park University (PA)

David Oxtoby, Pomona College (SC)

Claude C. Lilly, Presbyterian College (SC)

Robert A. Gervasi, Quincy University (IL)

Thomas Isherwood, Reinhardt University (GA)

William Troutt, Rhodes College (TN)

Jim Dlugos, Saint Joseph's College of Maine (ME)

Carol Ann Mooney, Saint Mary’s College (IN)

Dottie King, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (IN)

Eugene J. Cornacchia, Saint Peter’s University (NJ)

Karen Lawrence, Sarah Lawrence College (NY)

Tim Summerlin, Schreiner University (TX)

Lori Bettison-Varga, Scripps College (CA)

Daniel J. Martin, Seattle Pacific University (WA)

John McCardell, Sewanee: The University of the South (TN)

George Arnold, Silver Lake College of the Holy Family (WI)

Philip A. Glotzbach, Skidmore College (NY)

Carol Christ, Smith College (MA)

Paul Mittman, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and Health Science (AZ)

W. Richard Merriman, Jr., Southwestern College (KS)

Colleen Perry Keith, Spartanburg Methodist College (SC)

Beverly Daniel Tatum, Spelman College (GA)

Richard P. Salmi, Spring Hill College (AL)

Richard B. Flynn, Springfield College (MA)

Andrea Lee , St. Catherine University (MN)

Michael Peters, St. John’s College (NM)

William L. Fox, St. Lawrence University (NY)

Joseph Urgo, St. Mary's College of Maryland (MD)

Martha K. Shouldis, St. Vincent's College (CT)

Kevin J. Manning, Stevenson University (MD)

Mark Cregan, Stonehill College (MA)

Jo Ellen Parker, Sweet Briar College (VA)

Judith Huntington, The College of New Rochelle (NY)

Grant H. Cornwell, The College of Wooster (OH)

Susan Scrimshaw, The Sage Colleges (NY)

R. Owen Williams, Transylvania University (KY)

James Jones, Trinity College (CT)

Dennis A. Ahlburg, Trinity University (TX)

Pat McGuire, Trinity Washington University (DC)

Stephen C. Ainlay, Union College (NY)

Neil Albert Salonen, University of Bridgeport (CT)

Ed Welch, University of Charleston (WV)

Thomas A. Kazee, University of Evansville (IN)

Walter Harrison, University of Hartford (CT)

Steven H. Kaplan, University of New Haven (CT)

E. William Beauchamp, University of Portland (OR)

Ronald R. Thomas, University of Puget Sound (WA)

Pamela Trotman Reid, University of Saint Joseph (CT)

Gary A. Dill, University of the Southwest (NM)

Bobby Fong, Ursinus College (PA)

Patrick E. White, Wabash College (IN)

Nathan O. Hatch, Wake Forest University (NC)

Tori Haring-Smith, Washington & Jefferson College (PA)

Weymouth Spence, Washington Adventist University (MD)

Kenneth P. Ruscio, Washington and Lee University (VA)

Michael Roth, Wesleyan University (CT)

Richard H. Dorman, Westminster College (PA)

Ronald A. Crutcher, Wheaton College (MA)

George Bridges, Whitman College (WA)

Sharon Herzberger, Whittier College (CA)

David Sallee, William Jewell College (MO)

Barbara Mistick, Wilson College (PA)

Benjamin Dunlap, Wofford College (SC)

Lu#s Mar#a R. Calingo, Woodbury University (CA)

Norman C. Francis, Xavier University of Louisiana (LA)

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

Simply sounds like "Big Brother" is trying to squelch/eliminate Marylanders' 2A Rights.

[glhs837]

Hmmm, all these university presidents agree with the Chinese govt position, anyone shocked?

China Calls for 'No Delay' on Gun Controls in U.S. - NYTimes.com

[BigBlue]

Originally Posted by glhs837

Hmmm, all these university presidents agree with the Chinese govt position, anyone shocked?

Maybe, they know something you don't.

[mAlice]

Originally Posted by glhs837

Hmmm, all these university presidents agree with the Chinese govt position, anyone shocked?

China Calls for 'No Delay' on Gun Controls in U.S. - NYTimes.com

Now, why would china concern themselves with our gun laws? Kinda' makes ya' go "hmmmmmm".

[glhs837]

Originally Posted by BigBlue

Maybe, they know something you don't.

Like the fact that controlling a population that cant fight back is way easier? Anytime you find yourself in agreement with a government that has murdered millions of it's own citizens, that's a good time to step back and reevaluate you position.

What is is you think they know that I don't? Do they teach that saying by Mao?

Every Communist must grasp the truth, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

Maybe these university types have unlimited faith in government, but for my money, the Gipper said it best, "Trust, but verify", oddly enough, an old Russian maxim. And the peoples last resort for when government fails that trust is the political power that grows from the end of the gun. The founders knew this, and so enshrined it into the very fabric of our republic.

Do I really think we will need such a fallback? Not really, I think the republic is strong enough that day to day stuff wont break it. But it's not about how any citizen feels on any given day. You dont cancel your insurance policy because you are pretty sure nothing bad is going to happen. And thats what the 2nd amendment is, the Founders final insurance policy against the government they formed going bad.

[aps45819]

Originally Posted by mAlice

Now, why would china concern themselves with our gun laws? Kinda' makes ya' go "hmmmmmm".

Watch the remake of Red Dawn

[BOP]

Originally Posted by glhs837

Like the fact that controlling a population that cant fight back is way easier? Anytime you find yourself in agreement with a government that has murdered millions of it's own citizens, that's a good time to step back and reevaluate you position.

What is is you think they know that I don't? Do they teach that saying by Mao?



Maybe these university types have unlimited faith in government, but for my money, the Gipper said it best, "Trust, but verify", oddly enough, an old Russian maxim. And the peoples last resort for when government fails that trust is the political power that grows from the end of the gun. The founders knew this, and so enshrined it into the very fabric of our republic.

Do I really think we will need such a fallback? Not really, I think the republic is strong enough that day to day stuff wont break it. But it's not about how any citizen feels on any given day. You dont cancel your insurance policy because you are pretty sure nothing bad is going to happen. And thats what the 2nd amendment is, the Founders final insurance policy against the government they formed going bad.

Ever feel as though you're talking to a blank wall?

[BigBlue]

I understand why you posters get mad ,your views on gun control make you look dumb and when this many college presidents agree that you position is wrong,well, it just hurts all of you that much more.