Odds are you’ve either heard of the phrase “trigger happy” or you’ve never been in a discussion about gun control. Leftists love to use the phrase “trigger happy” when they are justifying fascistic gun control policies that would curtail the rights of ordinary citizens. When leftists use the term “trigger happy” they get a mental image of a person who is just itching to kill a fellow citizen. I use a similar term, “trigger angry.” And when I use it I get a mental image of Professor Paula Anderson.
John Wahlberg gave a speech in Professor Anderson’s communications class at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). The topic was a general one on relevant issues in the media. John decided to argue that concealed weapons permits would reduce violence and, more specifically, would have saved lives during the Virginia Tech massacre of 2007.
After John’s speech, his trigger angry professor decided to call the police. As a result, John was hauled down to the station and interrogated. To date, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has failed to provide John with the support he needs as his professor seeks to undermine his First Amendment rights en route to undermining the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.
The 23-year old Wahlberg was greeted by campus police officers who read off a list of all his registered firearms. When the campus police reminded Wahlberg that guns were prohibited in campus, they apparently were not aware that he lives off campus. In fact, he lives twenty miles off campus. He also keeps the guns in a safe.
Professor Anderson’s actions were outrageous, partly because the questions police asked were so invasive. Imagine police presenting a gay professor with a list of his sex partners and then reminding him that sodomy is against the law. But, wait, sodomy is a constitutional right. Wahlberg was talking about gun ownership.
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What about the possible defamation resulting from the situation? Merely taking Mr. Wahlberg into the station for questioning will cause him to be perceived differently by students. But Anderson said she had a different perception in mind: The perception that merely discussing guns makes one violent.
I have to ask the obvious: Does Professor Anderson think discussing sex makes one a rapist? Would she take seriously anyone who held such a view? Should anyone who discusses sex be hauled into the police station, reminded that rape is illegal, and asked whether every sex act he had was consensual?
If you think that Professor Anderson is the only trigger angry professor at her university, think again. She said she consults her Chair and Dean every time she looks into a possible risk. That means other people helped her decide to have Wahlberg taken into custody. And a tenured member of the Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Freedom, Jerold Duquette, says he doesn’t know that he would have reacted differently. I tried to find a member of the Faculty Senate Committee on Firearms Freedom but there isn’t one.
My solution to professors like Paula Anderson is one based upon my belief that our universities would be better off if they did the exact opposite of what they are doing now. For example, Hamline University in Minnesota expelled a student for merely mentioning that he supported concealed weapons permits on campus. The student was re-admitted but only after taking a psychological evaluation.
So I propose that we put Professor Anderson on paid leave until she can be psychologically evaluated. In the unlikely event that she passes the exam she can be reinstated. If not, so much the better for Connecticut taxpayers.
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