Ex-MSU professor: I won’t teach gun-toting students

EAST LANSING — A former Michigan State University professor says he’ll no longer teach at the University of Texas because of a new law allowing concealed firearms on campus.

Daniel Hamermesh taught at MSU from 1973 until 1993 and said he believes guns have no place in an educational setting. He adds that arming students does little to help faculty and others feel safe. In fact, he argues it does the opposite.

“In arguing to protect ourselves from shooters, they’ve turned (college campuses) into armed camps,” he said.

Hamermesh joined the University of Texas in Austin after leaving MSU. He formally retired last year, though he planned to teach classes through 2017 until the legislation was signed this summer.

The entire psychology department at UT along with many educators and researchers across the county oppose guns in classrooms, Hamermesh said. He hopes more speak out on the issue before it takes root outside of Texas. Standing in front of hundreds of students knowing some could be armed is a risk he believes is not worth taking. He also worries about potential confrontations with armed students in his office.

A bill calling for similar allowances in Michigan is currently before state legislators.

Senate Bill 442 would allow concealed pistols in gun-free zones, including in classrooms and dormitories. It would replace the existing statue allowing open-carry in these environments and would bar the practice in gun-free zones. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee 4-1 earlier this month.

Officials from the Michigan Association of State Universities spoke out against the bill during the committee meeting, but after it was already approved, said Dan Hurley, the organization's CEO.

Proponents of the bill say arming concealed citizens will prevent future acts of violence and contribute to a lower crime rate.

Senator Mike Green, R-Mayville, said the bill would merely transition from an open-carry to a concealed approach. While MSU has an ordinance banning weapons on campus, state law trumps rules put in place by colleges.

“We have half a million CPL holders in our state and less than one-tenth of a percent of people with CPLs have ever committed a crime,” he said.

Gun-free zones and those supporting them create the environment for a criminal to “shoot up the place,” he added. Green also cited John Lott’s 1997 study “Crime, Deterrence, and the Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns,” which asserted that armed citizens deter violent crime without increasing accidental deaths. Lott spoke in favor of the bill during the committee hearing earlier this month, Green said.

Lott's study has been widely contested since its release. All but one of a National Research Council 18-member panel evaluating the study's claims in 2005 found inadequate evidence for Lott's conclusions, according to a paper published in 2012 by researchers from Stanford University.

Christina DeJong is a professor within MSU’s School of Criminal Justice. She said she isn’t afraid of armed police who’ve attended her classes. What does concern her is individuals without training police receive showing up to class with a gun.

“I’ve had encounters with very angry students at times where I’ve been afraid and having a gun introduced into that situation would make me more fearful,” she said. DeJong cited research showing the increased likelihood of a situation escalating to violence when weapons are present.

Armed students could also cause a “silencing effect” in the classroom. Controversial topics may go unaddressed by fearful faculty and students, something counter to the college experience, she said.

Both DeJong and Green cited recent incidents to support their positions. Green said James Holmes, the man behind the Aurora Shooting in Colorado in 2012, drove to a distant movie theater to commit his attack because it was marked as gun-free.

DeJong said the recent incident involving a CPL holder firing a gun at a fleeing vehicle in the parking lot of an Oakland County Home Depot underscored the difference between police and civilian training. By contrast, a CPL holder in Battle Creek shot and wounded two suspects after they attacked the man and his father after arraigning to buy a car through Craigslist earlier this month.

Hamermesh admits he had comparatively little to lose in deciding not to return to UT, given his professor emeritus status. Still, he said he’s interacted with students and faculty dissuaded from attending schools where guns are more widespread.

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.