by A1F Staff - Monday, September 17, 2018

A College of Southern Nevada sociology professor tried a social experiment that backfired.

Seems the man doesn’t much care for guns. And he certainly doesn’t think the country should have a president who agrees with the premise of the Second Amendment. So he decided to carry concealed on campus—something that is illegal in Nevada—and shoot himself in the arm while he was in one of the campus men’s rooms.

We can only speculate about what his true intent was. Maybe he was planning to shoot himself, toss the .22-caliber handgun and say a student shot him, thus making a case against any consideration of campus carry; or maybe—like he reportedly told a person who administered first aid—it was a general protest against President Donald Trump and the right to bear arms.

Regardless, the incident, which happened in late August at the start of the semester, has resulted in criminal charges being filed against the prof. He is due to make a court appearance in the case today so he can answer to charges of discharging a gun within a prohibited structure, carrying concealed without a permit, and possessing a firearm on school property.

It’s safe to say, his experiment proved nothing—other than the fact that anti-Trump people and anti-gunners will stop at nothing to try to get some attention.

Also disconcerting is how the college handled the incident. Although a campuswide alert was issued the day of the shooting, the event drew little public mention aside from one in a newsletter that is emailed to staff. At the end of the September edition of “The Chronicle,” officials wrote this under the heading of campus safety:

“We have received several inquiries surrounding the shooting incident on the Charleston Campus last week. I want to let everyone know that the CSN Police Department has concluded its investigation. An emeritus professor was treated for a self-inflicted injury in the hospital and subsequently arrested and charged with possessing a weapon on campus and other charges. I appreciate all of the expressions of concern and interest, and I pledge to keep everyone updated should the situation change. Please know that if your department would like an individual safety review with the CSN Police Department, you may email Chief Darryl Caraballo at csnpd@csn.edu.”

Some staff members think the new college president should take a lesson on transparency, as trying to keep such an incident under wraps opens the door to rumors and extra worry.