By Sean Schauer
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 6, 1998

Revoke weapons ban

To the Editor:

First off, I would like to thank Miss Alexander for an intelligent, logically written article on the topic of the Regents weapons ban. I would like to note however that the ban extends to all weapons, not just defensive firearms. Curious about the definition of the word "weapon," I looked it up. A weapon is defined as any object that can be used against an adversary. That's right, anything anyone uses against another in an attacking or defensive matter is considered a weapon, even one's hands, feet, words and, most importantly, one's mind.

The human mind is the most devastating weapon ever made. It is what drives us and gives us the ability to make decisions that effect our lives. So, if this campus is a weapons free zone does that mean we should check our minds at the gate and walk around like mindless zombies? Personally, I don't think much would get done around here if that were required.

Now it seems painfully obvious to me that the Arizona Board of Regents agrees so much with this policy that, before they enacted it, they decided to check their minds at the door. And, unfortunately for us, the students, have been doing so ever since. So, to the regents, please revoke the weapons ban, get back your minds and let the populace of the state universities be able to defend themselves. Because, if the regents don't revoke the ban then the only way to enforce it will be for them to start removing the minds of the rest of us.

Sean Schauer
Engineering Physics sophomore