Students for Concealed Carry on Campus

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus has a new partner -- Eric Thompson.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

If Green Bay gun dealer Eric Thompson had his way, college students would carry more than just books.

In his vision, the next college shooter is thwarted by a student armed with one of Thompson's guns - averting a massacre, saving lives.

Thompson's Internet-based business TGSCOM Inc. sold weapons to the shooters at both Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech universities. First, he said, he felt grief for the victims. Then, a sense of resolve. Not to stop selling guns, but to advocate for guns on campus.

"The perfect situation is that nothing ever happens like that again," Thompson said. " . . . But in a last-ditch scenario, you are able to protect yourself."

Now he is partnering with Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a national group that next month will hold an "empty-holster" protest against university gun-free zones. Thompson will donate holsters to the group, adding a high-profile touch to a small but growing push for guns on campus.

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, born after Virginia Tech, has grown to 22,000 members. And at least 14 states - not including Wisconsin - are considering legislation to allow concealed weapons on campus.

Critics decry the idea, saying it would only increase violence on campus. Educators have responded to high-profile college shootings by adding security measures such as text-message alerts and bolstering mental health services such as counseling and advising.

The movement faces a double hurdle in Wisconsin and Illinois - the only two states that bar concealed weapons for the public. But that hasn't stopped Students for Concealed Carry on Campus from sprouting up at Marquette and Lawrence universities and Madison Area Technical College.

Utah is the only state that allows concealed weapons on campus.

I can't imagine other states getting on board with Utah. It's difficult for the U.S. military to recruit on some campuses. ROTC is banned from some campuses.

I highly doubt that the nation's colleges are ready to allow gun-toting students and staff.

...Thompson said he's gotten hateful e-mails threatening to harm his wife and children. The notes anger him, but they haven't changed his mind about whether he's to blame.

"No, I didn't feel any personal responsibility," Thompson said. "Both of these murderers, they were able to get their weapons legally. They were able to pass background checks."

If Thompson broke laws in selling weapons to the murderers, he would bear responsibility for his illegal activities.

It's not his fault that the shooters chose to use the guns illegally.

Still, if I had sold the guns, I think I'd feel guilty. Although irrational, I would probably feel responsible for arming the murderers.

It's sick that Thompson and his family are being threatened. Who's sending the threats? Anti-gun, peaceful types?