by Joe Adgie

A speaker came to Monday’s SGA meeting to speak about upcoming legislation that would legalize concealed carry on college campuses, while an organization had its funding removed due to internal issues.

The organization is the Film and Video Society, who had asked for $450 during the previous week’s meeting for a screening of the movie “Land of Higher Peace” and a visit from the maker of the film, Mark Ezra Stokes.

On Monday, SGA president Will Jimerson reported that the funding was in dispute.

“It seems to be that the presentation was done without permission of the department, so funding may or may not be granted,” Jimerson said.

On Tuesday, the screening and the appearance by Stokes was cancelled.

In an email sent to mass media students on Tuesday, Jason Brown, assistant professor of communication arts, cited “recent events” for the reason of the cancellation but noted that the event “may be rescheduled.”

Kathryn Grant, a representative of the Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus, gave an update on Senate Bill 101, a bill that would legalize concealed carry of firearms on college campuses. Grant remarked that the bill will be on the agenda for when the Georgia general assembly returns to session in January.

“It will pass unless you raise opposition and exercise your right as a participant in our democracy and say ‘no,’” Grant said.

Grant explained that her organization is looking for people to voice their opinions and remarked that the University System of Georgia, law enforcement agencies and many educators are opposed to the idea.

“There is no data that supports the idea that guns in a school or on college campuses are a good idea,” Grant said. “I know that might not be necessarily what you hear. There are a lot of people that talk about the Virginia Tech incident that say ‘If I were there, and if I had a gun, I would have been able to stop that shooter.’”

Grant told the story of Colin Goddard, who was shot multiple times in the Virginia Tech massacre and was one of the 17 people that were wounded but survived the shooting.

“Now, he’s been there,” Grant said. “He’s been on the other end of a gun. He has dedicated his life to making sure that guns stay out of college campuses, except in the hands of trained law enforcement officers. That’s the most compelling reason I think there is if you listen to someone who has survived what is still the deadliest shooting in U.S. history by a single gunman, and the 17 students say, ‘Guns on campus isn’t a good idea.’”

According to Grant, legislators were not listening to their constituents.

“It’s frustrating to me and sad that you all haven’t been asked how you feel about it,” Grant said. “Somehow the lawmakers are drawing lots of conclusions here without asking the very people who this policy is going to affect most.”