Gonzaga moves to expel students who stopped felon from murdering them – despite living off campus

From Patriot News Update:

Two Gonzaga students are facing possible expulsion from the University after they pulled a weapon in self defense as a six time felon attempted to get into their on campus apartment. According to the student handbook, students may not possess handguns on campus or university owned property. On Friday a university discipline board decided to move forward with sanctions, including possible expulsion, for using the weapons. Read more at http://patriotoutdoornews.com/8065/gonzaga-students-face-possible-expulsion-pulling-gun-home-intruder#jkI6kdZg2vXVKkZ3.99

Let me first say that the two students, Erik Fagan and Dan McIntosh, in my mind did everything right.

The University on the other hand is really crapping the bed on this matter.

And you may be surprised to know that the reason I believe so isn’t for the reason you may think.

An anti gun, private University has the right to ban guns from their campus and their property. It’s an idiotic and dangerous policy to have, as time and again we see how well so called “gun free” zones actually work, but it is Gonzaga’s right to do it.

But what makes Gonzaga really reprehensible in this regard is that they are acting in bad faith.

Fagan and McIntosh are not living on campus, they are not living in campus housing. They are simply living in a building owned by the University and the University isn’t advertising that.

Let me try to explain because it is not that uncommon yet is not widely known.

At my alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, the University has campus housing which entails dorms and residence halls. Then they have “off-campus” housing, which is residential houses they bought over the years, that they rent out and you know they own it because the buildings have the Pitt Crest on them and you pay the University rent.

But lastly, they own buildings in the Oakland neighborhood through their proxy that unless you know that the proxy is just the puppet of Pitt you would never know about Pitt’s involvement.

You may ask why the proxy. The simple answer is that people were starting to resist Pitt’s ever expansion into purchasing the real estate around Oakland and made concerted efforts to block it and would no longer sell to Pitt, or sell at ridiculously high prices since Pitt has deep pockets. They solved this by setting up a proxy to buy the property bit by bit with the sellers being none the wiser. Eventually, the University will own all the land but at that point no one will stop them.

So let’s go back to Gonzaga. Fagan and McIntosh lived in one of these by proxy apartments that is not publicly recognized as being owned by Gonzaga but in actuality is.

Can you see anything that would indicate this apartment is University owned?

Looks like any other regular apartment complex. You can get a closer look via google maps, 207 E Sinto Ave‎ Spokane, WA 99202

Well, maybe something on the doors saying that you are living in University Housing.

Nope. Regular looking apartment door.

This is where Gonzaga’s bad faith comes into play.

They are moving forward with sanctions against the two men who saved their own lives by using a gun to stop a home invasion by a violent felon because Fagan and McIntosh didn’t abide by campus rules.

WHY would they abide by campus rules if they lived off campus and you led them to believe they lived in an independently owned apartment building?

The underhandedness of Gonzaga in even thinking about expelling these two men shows not only the University’s outright disdain for the 2nd Amendment and people’s right to self defense but the unscrupulous nature of the University at large.

The delusion that Gonzaga is under in regards to firearms is rather intense as the released a statement about this situation stating:

The policy has been in place to reduce threats to the school.

I don’t want to twist their words but perhaps they are more worried about threats of lawsuits to the school than they are to the welfare and safety of their students. The intruder that Fagan and McIntosh fended off was a 6 TIME FELON. The two men do not live in the safest neighborhood and unlike actual campus housing there is no security there to protect them. They are on their own and Gonzaga would rather them be beaten, robbed and possibly murdered than to have the means to stop an home invasion.

That doesn’t sound like a policy that reduces threats to the students.

According to the Gonzaga’s Executive Vice President Earl Martin, all university housing is patrolled at regular intervals by campus security, though this particular apartment complex isn’t gated and secured key cards or codes aren’t required for entrance. So basically, if you can manage to slip by the crack security team that consists of a guy in a patrol car driving by once every couple of hours you have free access to walk right in to the apartment building that the criminal did that night. There is no passive defense stopping some home invader from walking up, knocking on your door and doing whatever they want to you. It’s a miracle that the 6 time convicted felon chose Fagan and McIntosh’s door and not one of their female neighbors, or else this story might have had a much worse ending.

Let’s take one more look at that policy from the University’s website:

Possession, use, sale, or exchange of weapons at any location on campus, or within University residences

It even goes on to ban toy guns. But the bad faith on behalf of Gonzaga is really what is getting to me. This is one of those time where ignorance of the rules is actually a pretty compelling defense.

Fagan and McIntosh live off campus, in housing not publicly known to be University owned, with no campus security measures and in an area known to be dangerous and Gonzaga not only denies them their 2nd Amendment rights but also will expel them for actually USING them to stop a VIOLENT FELON?

I hope that Fagan and McIntosh are allowed to finish their senior year though after this incident the worth of a Gonzaga diploma has dropped considerably in my mind. I also hope they get their firearms back , they were seized by the Campus Security and a residence Director. How can that even be legal?!?!

Apparently the blowback from this injustice has gotten Gonzaga to “re-evaluate” their policy, which I take for: “we’ll give the people lip service until this blows over but change nothing”.

University President Thayne McCulloh, even while trying to mute the uproar that his school has been facing still holds to the gun control lines of those who hate guns and those who use them in a statement he released Saturday:

Gonzaga is very similar to many other schools, colleges and universities around the country which prohibit students’ possession of firearms in campus housing facilities; the overarching objective of these is to minimize the potential for intentional or unintentional harm. Gonzaga University is itself part and parcel of a larger community — which includes the Logan Neighborhood, Mission Park, the University District and Downtown. A significant number of Gonzaga students live side-by-side with families and long-time residents of these areas. Just as students have a right to feel safe and secure in their residences, so too do the non-student members of the community — a point which obligates us all to recognize that everything we do affects others.

Other schools endanger their students by depriving them the right to protect themselves so Gonzaga feels like it’s justified in following suit? Fantastic. And as I said, that is their right, but to punish those living in “secret” University housing is just dishonest and cowardly.

The second part is the old rehash that controllers love to blather on about, people have a right to “feel safe”. You know what, forget that. I would rather BE safe than be conned into some false sense of FEELING safe.

You know who was safe the night a 6 time felon came knocking on their door? Fagan and McIntosh.

You know who would feel safe right up until the time they were being beaten and raped? Any woman whose door in that apartment building that the felon might have knocked on instead.

I’m sticking with BEING safe.

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