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Originally Posted by loramin
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Wait wait wait. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those "ban all guns" people (even thought it does bug the hell out of me that everyone ignores the "well regulated militia" part of the 2nd amendment), and I don't want this to turn in to some debate about banning guns because that's stupid. I've had fun going to the shooting range, and I've eaten a whole lot of delicious dead animals that my in-laws hunted, so I'm not at all "anti-gun".
But look, every constitutional right has limits: I'm a staunch defender of the 1st amendment, but even I want to see some asshole who yells "fire" in a crowded theater go to jail. Same deal here: are your rights also violated because the government won't let you bring guns in your carry on luggage?
The whole way rights work is based on this idea of a sphere of autonomy. Each of us has a little bubble around us that's our rights, and no one can fuck with that bubble normally. But when your bubble and my bubble collide, those rights have to adjust. For instance, I have every right to swing my arm around as much as I want ... until I stand next to you and swinging my arm would actually mean punching you: at that point I've lost my right to swing my arms around.
But if I'm wrong, by all means show me the Supreme Court ruling where they say that banning guns in a particular event for safety reasons is a constitutional violation.
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However, USU police consulted with the FBI’s cyberterrorism task force and behavioral analysis unit and determined that the threats against Sarkeesian would not prevent a safe lecture, even with firearms allowed.
"Given that she had received many of the same sorts of threats and none of the threats had materialized into anything specific, that was part of the context of the investigation," Vitale said. "That led us to believe that the threat was not imminent or real."
USU officials also pointed to a 2004 state law preventing public universities from restricting guns.
Sarkeesian said she asked for metal detectors or pat-downs at the entrance of the Taggart Student Center auditorium, but USU police said they could not prevent those in attendance from carrying weapons into the lecture if they had concealed weapons permits. Though she said, "in hindsight, I don’t think I’d feel comfortable with any weapons in the auditorium." Police instead promised more officers and a backpack check at the doors. Sarkeesian said she asked whether police could screen the audience for guns and let them in if they had permits, but Vitale said campus law enforcement officers believed that would have been needlessly invasive for the audience.
"If we felt it was necessary to do that to protect Miss Sarkeesian, we absolutely would have done that," Vitale said. "We felt the level of security presence we were putting into this was completely adequate to provide a safe environment."
But, Vitale said, that determination doesn’t replace Sarkeesian’s own judgment, noting that "she’s the one who is standing in front of the audience; she’s the one who has been receiving death threats."
Sarkeesian said the threats were specific, with one claiming, "I have at my disposal a semi-automatic rifle, multiple pistols, and a collection of pipe bombs."
"It’s unacceptable that the school is unable or unwilling to screen for firearms at a lecture on their campus, especially when a specific terrorist threat had been made against the speaker," she said.
USU always has allowed guns at campus events, including speeches by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in 2008 and actor and activist Danny Glover, whose commencement address in 2010 was targeted by hate mail but nothing rising to the level of a death threat, Vitale said.
So a famous actor and a supreme court judge can still give their speeches with guns allowed, but I guess they aren't special little snowflakes like a raging feminist is.