Kansas Lawmaker Seeks To Repeal Campus Carry

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File

I’ve always had a certain fondness for the delusional character Don Quixote. The metaphor of trying to joust with a windmill he perceived as a fierce giant is great symbolism for many things.

However, like anything else, it’s usually better to see on the pages of fiction or a screen than to watch in real life, especially when that quixotic task involves infringing on people’s rights.

Allowing concealed guns on college campuses remains a controversial issue in the Sunflower State.

Now, a Lawrence-based lawmaker wants to reverse course on “campus carry,” and it isn’t the first time Democratic Rep. Barbara Ballard has introduced the measure.

“Faculty is uncomfortable. They don’t feel safe. They don’t want to carry guns,” Ballard told FOX4 on Wednesday. “Parents are upset. They don’t want students coming to campus that will allow guns. They sometimes decide, ‘I’ll choose another college.’”

College campuses are an environment considered to be a soft target by many Second Amendment supporters. That’s why many Kansans oppose the repeal of campus carry — including Garrett Miller, chairman of KU’s College Republicans.

He cited the latest statistics from the University of Kansas Public Safety department, which show crime rates at the Lawrence campus are down.

“It’s constitutionally protected. The Second Amendment is pretty clear. Citizens have the right to bear arms,” Miller said. “I don’t want KU to be a soft target. I want this to be a very hard target.”

Frankly, I doubt nearly as many people are upset as Ballard wants to argue.

I’m not saying she’s even lying. I’m just saying that those who oppose it are more likely to seek her out to talk about the topic than those who either don’t care or support the law. Her stance may well skew her perspective.

As the article noted, Ballard tried this before and failed.

Frankly, she’s going to do so again.

Republicans hold pretty much a 2-to-1 majority in both chambers (it’s a bit higher, to be fair) which means they’re not going to entertain this kind of nonsense.

Ballard is tilting at windmills, and her efforts are either grandstanding or delusion, much like Don Quixote. I’d like to say it’s a delusion, to be honest.

You see, while the state has a Democrat as governor at the moment, many in the state attribute that more to dislike of her opponent by independents. In other words, they didn’t like her. They just hated him more.

As such, Ballard may have thought this could be passed in the state, but she can’t be blind to the aforementioned disparity between the two parties in the Kansas Legislature. She has to know there’s no way this would even make it out of committee, much less pass. It’s impossible to be that delusional and it not show itself in other, more pronounced ways.

That leaves grandstanding.

She’s virtue-signaling that she’s anti-gun so the national party will notice her and back her for higher office. That’s it.

It’s pathetic if you ask me.

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