Unfair termination violates student’s rights

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