By Maggie Callaghan, Senior Staff Writer
Gun rights activists will parade through Miami University's campus on Saturday, April 30, openly carrying their firearms in support of an open carry law on college campuses. Leading the demonstration will be Jeffry Smith, a firearm instructor and activist from Cincinnati.
Smith has organized similar events at other public Ohio institutions, including the University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University and the University of Akron. He has also planned scheduled an event this Saturday at Bowling Green University.
"What I want is to get conversation, dialogue and discussions going between people's rights and laws," Smith said. "I am confident
that the people who participate have the same mindset as I do and want to have conversations."
It is currently legal to openly carry a firearm in Ohio, meaning that the gun can be fully visible. However, the Ohio Revised Code "prohibits the carrying of concealed firearms on any premises owned or leased by any public or private college, university, or other institution of higher education, unless the handgun is in a locked motor vehicle or the licensee is in the immediate process of placing the handgun in a locked motor vehicle."
After an alumnus asked him to organize a walk, Smith came to Miami last month to scout the campus and plan a route for his demonstration. He was openly carrying his gun.
To Smith's surprise, on the day he came to plan the route, a Miami student called the police and notified them that somebody was walking on campus with a gun. Smith said the student who phoned in was not scared and merely wanted to inform the police. MUPD could not comment on the nature of the call.
"Students realize how vulnerable they are," Smith said. "You guys are sitting ducks."
Sophomore Jamie Drost said he recognizes the potential threat that college campuses face and that guns are part of the solution.
"If you think about an active shooter situation, when you have a group of people able to legally carry firearms, that adds to the amount of people that are trained to handle a situation like that," Drost said.
A crowd of over 70 people attended the first open carry walk with Smith at the University of Cincinnati in 2014. Smith began organizing these walks after he met a University of Cincinnati student who was beaten up after attempting to intervene in the beating of a fraternity brother. Smith believed that not enough action was taking place to change legislation.
However, there is pushback from many Miami students and parents who fear the repercussions of bringing guns to Miami's campus. Evan Fackler, a Miami graduate student, doesn't understand how there can be open dialogue with one side of the conversation armed while the other is not.
"My concern is that this group comes here with a nefarious ulterior motive and without respect to our own community decisions to live and interact in a certain way," said Fackler. "And they are coming here to create a spectacle that doesn't lend itself to the kind of open debate they claim they want to have; a spectacle that will in fact be unnecessarily provocative."
Fackler doesn't believe Smith fully grasps the possible repercussions of such an event.
"Regardless of what they hope to achieve, it sure is a classy thing to be doing in Oxford, Ohio of all places, considering four students were injured in a school shooting in Madison, Ohio last month and a Middletown High School student was arrested for bringing a gun to school in February," said first year Kenny Halt, a member of College Democrats.
According the event's Facebook page, of the 594 people invited, 29 people are going and another 76 people are interested.
Some students do not believe that the walk is a safety concern for the campus, Drost said.
"In this case, the people are doing it to prove a point," Drost said. "Even if you agree or disagree with their reasoning, nothing negative is going to happen because of it."
Smith asks that participants take a number of safety precautions. For instance, he asks that all participants carrying a longarm, such as a rifle or shotgun, keep the chamber empty and always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
As Smith explained, the chamber of a gun is like a dryer, and the round is the clothes. Without the clothes inside the dryer, the dryer will not dry the clothes. So, without the round inside the chamber, the gun will not fire.
Participants may carry loaded magazines for their longarms, but are asked to keep the chamber empty. However, there are no rules for those carrying sidearms, like a pistol or handgun.
"Sidearms will more than likely be loaded, but triggers will be covered," said Smith
The university posted an announcement about the march on the MyMiami homepage for students last Friday and notified parents on their Facebook page.
"The university will not take disciplinary action against students under the Code of Student Conduct solely for legal possession of a weapon while participating in this organized event," the announcement read.
According to Smith, he has already been in contact with the chiefs of both the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) and Oxford Police Department (OPD), as well as Miami's general counsel.
"Mr. Smith has been very proactive in notifying us about these events," said MUPD Cpt. Ben Spilman.
MUPD plans to monitor the event, but Spilman said they do not believe there needs to be any special supervision
"Smith and his group seem to be very organized. We aren't concerned because there has never been a problem [at other walks] before," said Spilman.
This is not the first time Miami has made headlines with gun rights and laws. In 2014, Miami, along with other Ohio institutions, was sued by gun activists for banning firearms on campus.
Fackler encouraged those who disagree with Smith's walk to join him in a peaceful protest.
Smith said he has never been confronted by protest before, but he encourages open dialogue between the two sides.
"The bottom line is that we are seeking conversation, not confrontation," said Smith
According to the event's Facebook page, the walk will begin at 1 p.m. at Cook Field.