by Jess Miller
Scripps Howard Foundation
Tiffany Loftin became an advocate for tougher gun laws after one of her high school friends was shot in a gang murder.
“This is a very personal issue for me,” said Loftin, 23, a graduate of the University of California-Santa Cruz and the president of the United States Student Association. Her friend, Dazhon Tony Roberts, 17, was killed in September 2006 in a gang-related homicide across the street from Birmingham High School in the San Fernando Valley.
Along with college and university presidents from across the nation, the USSA on Monday announced a partnership with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which is made up of nearly 900 mayors in big cities and small towns, to call for gun control legislation as soon as possible.
“This is an issue whose time has come,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “No one is immune to gun violence.”
This is especially true in the South Side of Chicago, where Duncan grew up. When he was superintendent of Chicago City Schools, Duncan said a child was buried every two weeks due to gun violence.
“The numbers have only gotten worse,” he said, citing the murder of a 15-year-old girl last week as she sought cover from the rain in a park shelter. Earlier in the month, she had marched in the inaugural parade.
The group of presidents, known as College Presidents for Gun Safety, represents more than 340 colleges and universities who signed a letter that urges policy makers to take strict action on gun control.
Lawrence M. Schall, president of Oglethorpe University, wrote the letter. He said leaders in higher education have been silent on national issues over the past decade. Many fear involvement in controversial political issues, he said.
He quoted Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, former president of the University of Notre Dame, who wrote in 2001, “When I was a college president, I often spoke out on national issues, even though they didn’t pertain to academic life. Yet, nowadays, I don’t find many college presidents commenting on such issues.”
Schall said that, although the presidents have many differences, one of their collective main concerns is the proliferation of military-style weapons on the streets.
The group supports Democrats in Congress and President Barack Obama in their goal of banning semi-automatic weapons and magazines with a capacity of more than 10 bullets.
The group also objects to allowing concealed carry permits on college campuses.
“The solution to gun violence on our nation’s education institutions is not more guns on our nation’s campuses,” said Mike Webster, chief of police at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md.
The announcement coincided with Obama’s visit to Minneapolis, where he publicized his nomination of Tom Jones to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which has not has a permanent director for six years.
Obama solicited support from the audience for an assault weapons ban, saying, “Weapons of war have no place on our streets, or in our schools, or threatening law enforcement officers.”
jessica.miller@shns.com
