2008 Woodie Awards
Dealer who sold campus shooters their guns aligns himself with 'Concealed Carry on Campus'
By: MCT
Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: Campus
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - If gun dealer Eric Thompson had his way, college students would carry more than just books.
In his vision, the next college shooter is thwarted by a student armed with one of Thompson's guns - averting a massacre, saving lives.
Thompson's Internet-based business TGSCOM Inc. sold weapons to the shooters at both Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech universities. First, he said, he felt grief for the victims. Then, a sense of resolve. Not to stop selling guns, but to advocate for guns on campus.
"The perfect situation is that nothing ever happens like that again," Thompson said. "... But in a last-ditch scenario, you are able to protect yourself."
Now he is partnering with Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a national group that next month will hold an "empty-holster" protest against university gun-free zones. Thompson will donate holsters to the group, adding a high-profile touch to a small but growing push for guns on campus.
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, born after Virginia Tech, has grown to 22,000 members. And at least 14 states - not including Wisconsin - are considering legislation to allow concealed weapons on campus.
Critics decry the idea, saying it would only increase violence on campus. Educators have responded to high-profile college shootings by adding security measures such as text-message alerts and bolstering mental health services such as counseling and advising.
The movement faces a double hurdle in Wisconsin and Illinois - the only two states that bar concealed weapons for the public. But that hasn't stopped Students for Concealed Carry on Campus from sprouting up at Marquette and Lawrence universities and Madison Area Technical College.
Marquette senior Michael Neiduski, 21, grieved for friends of friends who died when shooter Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people at Virginia Tech last April.
"I was in mourning and sadness for that," Neiduski said. "... Along with that, I sort of wish that those students had the opportunity to protect themselves."
In his vision, the next college shooter is thwarted by a student armed with one of Thompson's guns - averting a massacre, saving lives.
Thompson's Internet-based business TGSCOM Inc. sold weapons to the shooters at both Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech universities. First, he said, he felt grief for the victims. Then, a sense of resolve. Not to stop selling guns, but to advocate for guns on campus.
"The perfect situation is that nothing ever happens like that again," Thompson said. "... But in a last-ditch scenario, you are able to protect yourself."
Now he is partnering with Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a national group that next month will hold an "empty-holster" protest against university gun-free zones. Thompson will donate holsters to the group, adding a high-profile touch to a small but growing push for guns on campus.
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, born after Virginia Tech, has grown to 22,000 members. And at least 14 states - not including Wisconsin - are considering legislation to allow concealed weapons on campus.
Critics decry the idea, saying it would only increase violence on campus. Educators have responded to high-profile college shootings by adding security measures such as text-message alerts and bolstering mental health services such as counseling and advising.
The movement faces a double hurdle in Wisconsin and Illinois - the only two states that bar concealed weapons for the public. But that hasn't stopped Students for Concealed Carry on Campus from sprouting up at Marquette and Lawrence universities and Madison Area Technical College.
Marquette senior Michael Neiduski, 21, grieved for friends of friends who died when shooter Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people at Virginia Tech last April.
"I was in mourning and sadness for that," Neiduski said. "... Along with that, I sort of wish that those students had the opportunity to protect themselves."
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