NRA speaker talks to Students for Concealed Carry on how to get involved
Midwest field coordinator and staff attorney for the National Rifle Association Suzanne Anglewicz spoke to students Monday evening about how to become involved in the national discussion over gun rights.
The presentation was part of the program NRA University, an effort by the NRA to reach out to college students which discusses the legal issues surrounding the Second Amendment, helps students become involved and educates audiences on what the NRA does outside of lobbying efforts.
Anglewicz said the program is about ensuring students know the facts surrounding gun control regardless of their opinion.
“It’s basically a program we designed specifically for college students,” she said.
Senior Kirsti Keskimaki president of Students for Concealed Carry at CMU said the group has been trying to get a speaker from the NRA to visit campus for the last two years but was unsuccessful. At the beginning of the fall semester, however, the NRA reached out to SCC at CMU and suggested they arrange for someone to come to campus.
Anglewicz provided the audience with information packets which included a gift certificate for a year’s membership with the NRA. During the presentation she talked about the NRA’s efforts to educate and train individuals on gun safety, criticizing groups supporting gun control for not doing the same.
She also discussed the gun control laws, saying that most gun laws being proposed are already on the books.
“We’re either not enforcing it, or enforcing it very little,” she said.
Anglewicz also listed organizations that could help them become active on campus, including the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, the lobbying organization for the NRA, and NRA-ILA Frontlines, a website providing information on local events.
She also encouraged students to hold events during Second Amendment Week, invite politicians who support gun rights to speak on campus and host debates.
Keskimaki said she felt the event was successful in educating students on rights.
“It’s important for individuals to know the rights they have as students, and that they don’t change once you step on campus,” she said.
SCC at CMU advocates for the right of individuals with concealed pistol licenses to carry their weapons on campus. CMU does not allow weapons on campus, declaring it a weapon-free zone. SCC argues that this is in violation of state law.
Keskimaki said her current position on gun control is highly influenced by an event that occurred when she was in seventh grade. She said several individuals attempted to break into her house while she and her mother were home, and she could hear her mother trying to dial the police. The group fled when they saw Keskimaki had seen them through a window.
Afterward, her mother obtained a concealed pistol license.
“I hated the fact that I was violated,” she said. “I was afraid to do basic things.”
