The gun control debate raging across the country is not new. Since Columbine, the argument has swung back and forth with little to no results.
With the Price Middle School shooting, the debate has now reached our backyard. The Georgia General Assembly has introduced legislation that would allow guns on campus.
With gun violence surging throughout the US, it seems to us that the better idea would be to keep guns out of our campus, instead of bringing it in. For this reason, The Signal is against House Bill 29.
But that’s not really the point of this editorial.
At last week’s Student Government Association meeting, members of the executive board said the SGA would not be taking a position on HB 29. It was a strange development, considering President Marcus Kernizan came out in support of the current gun ban on campus just a few weeks ago. (See news story on page 5)
But since the meeting, the SGA’s official position is that they are indeed against HB 29, though it’s a temporary position until they receive more feedback from students.
The topic of guns on campus may seem like a divisive political situation for many of our SGA representatives, but by definition, these are exactly the kinds of situations student politicians should be dealing with.
If anything could influence policy up at the Capitol over guns on campus, it could be a single unified message from the student government representing the majority opinion of Georgia State students—the largest university in Atlanta.
Second-guessing yourself in a situation like this could only cause others to do the same; when the time comes to take real action, the protests could end up falling on deaf ears.
Besides, nobody likes a flip-flopping politician. Ask Mitt Romney.
It’s apparent the SGA is taking steps to better represent the student body, evident in their recent election of two senators who are also executive members of the Sustainable Energy Tribe.
As Executive Vice President Taylor Briggs said, students have different beliefs and special interests, and to be a part of a group of varying beliefs promotes diversity. The role of the SGA is to represent all students; bringing in students who only share the same interests is not only clique-ish, but treads dangerous ground that could lead to corruption and cronyism.
In addition, we applaud the SGA for passing Resolution 12.2, which calls for the creation of the green fee. The Signal has written extensive editorials about this in the past, so we won’t go into the importance of the green fee, but we hope the resolution will at least place some kind of bug in President Becker’s ear. It would be a shame if he lets this one slip again.
With SGA elections around the corner, we hope the current and incoming administration will be more mindful of the students’ positions on issues in the future. Don’t be afraid to take a stand, because you’d be surprised how many will listen.
