Letter to Editor by Logan Salee
In light UK firing Michael Mitchell last April after police found a firearm in his car, I feel UK is infringing on the rights of the individual as well as the rest of its students and faculty.
The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed to citizens of the United States by the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. If someone on campus has their First Amendment right to freedom of speech infringed upon, there is a raucous uproar over the issue. However, when the Second Amendment is taken from us, some people tend to overlook the issue.
Most universities in the U.S. take the right to bear arms away from law-abiding college students by not just preventing the carry of firearms on campus, but by preventing the keeping of a firearm in a vehicle as well.
The one thing UK forgets is that KRS 527.020, Kentucky law states, “No person or organization, public or private, shall prohibit a person licensed to carry a concealed deadly weapon from possessing a firearm, ammunition, both, or other deadly weapon in his or her vehicle in compliance with the provisions of KRS 237.110 and 237.115. Any attempt by a person or organization, public or private, to violate the provisions of this subsection may be the subject of an action for appropriate relief or for damages in a Circuit Court or District Court of competent jurisdiction.”
Not only does Mitchell have Kentucky statutes on his side, but the Bill of Rights as well.
Let us not forget the ten amendments to the Constitution contained in the Bill of Rights guarantee every American citizen their inalienable rights. If one right is taken away, then what is going to stop another from being taken as well? As American citizens we need to stop selecting specific rights to defend, but rather embrace all that the Bill of Rights provides.
Logan Sallee
engineering senior
When I read the headline, “UK University fires Student for Gun in Car”, I quite naturally assumed that it was yet another example of the idiots in Britain getting their panties in a knot over a firearm. I subsequently learned that the “UK” referred to “University of Kentucky”.
Whoa!
After reviewing the facts, and the law, I hope Mitchell wins his suit and walks away with million$. He can probably file under a whole constellation of theories of law. Unjust termination. Deprivation of Civil Rights. Defamation. Theft. This would be a fun case to pursue – gashing the University (and the idiots who run it) for big bucks, and who knows? Maybe even changing the administration. From the president on down, everyone in the decision chain appears to have exhibited a level of decision making that can be described as insipid, incompetent and incomprehensible.
Best bet for the administration? Beg for forgiveness, publicly apologize for a really BAD decision, reinstate Mitchell with back pay, and extend a full-ride scholarship to medical school…. and any other courses Mitchell might like to take… for life.
In the meantime, UK just looks bad for being run by knee-jerk idiots with no concept of or concern for, the law, the Constitution or fundamental human rights.
KRS527.020, S8 makes it a lot more interesting. Oddly, UK’s site showing the statute only shows the first few sections, omitting 8.
Thanks for writing the article, I am waiting for UK’s response to this topic.