mandatory mental health evaluation for gun-rights supporters

pvn · #1 10-11-2007, 12:36 PM

http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9795510-38.html

Send an email supporting gun rights? Off to the gulag!

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A Minnesota university has suspended one of its graduate students who sent two e-mail messages to school officials supporting gun rights.

Hamline University also said that master's student Troy Scheffler, who owns a firearm, would be barred from campus and must receive a mandatory "mental health evaluation" after he sent an e-mail message arguing that law-abiding students should be able to carry firearms on campus for self-defense.

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<font color="white"> (now cue phil, dvaut, etc chanting "ZOMG MISLEADING TITLE") </font>

In the school's defense, the student is probably a racist and has somewhat questionable grammar.

TomCollins · #2 10-11-2007, 01:06 PM

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9795510-38.html

Send an email supporting gun rights? Off to the gulag!

[ QUOTE ]
A Minnesota university has suspended one of its graduate students who sent two e-mail messages to school officials supporting gun rights.

Hamline University also said that master's student Troy Scheffler, who owns a firearm, would be barred from campus and must receive a mandatory "mental health evaluation" after he sent an e-mail message arguing that law-abiding students should be able to carry firearms on campus for self-defense.

[/ QUOTE ]

<font color="white"> (now cue phil, dvaut, etc chanting "ZOMG MISLEADING TITLE") </font>

In the school's defense, the student is probably a racist and has somewhat questionable grammar.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not a surprise this is a misleading title. It may be true, but the article is unclear. He was suspended but the university cannot say what it was for due to privacy laws. Wouldn't surprise me if it went either way, but there is unfortunately not enough evidence to be sure either way.

anatta · #3 10-11-2007, 01:46 PM

As a bad speller, I fear a slippery slope.

tame_deuces · #4 10-11-2007, 01:57 PM

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As a bad speller, I fear a slippery slope.

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Well, if you are going to explain to someone why should be allowed to bear arms on campus, I think we can all agree that room for ambiguity is a bad thing.

Not a reflection on the OP really, but a reflection on that would be that I think unis are a little jumpy these days. If they get some kind of incident where it is dug up that they had any kind of 'hint' (with hindsight added ofcourse), a lot of people's careers are toast.

andyfox · #5 10-11-2007, 05:16 PM

They're not sending him to the Gulag. You and other ACists are very quick to use words without much care to their meaning. Do you know what the Gulag was? Suspending a student or getting a student a mental health evaluation is not the Gulag.

Further, this kid needs a mental health evaluation and should have been suspended. Consider:

"there may be people on the edge ready to snap. I cant say I blame them, I myself am tired of having to pay my own extremely overpriced tuition to make up for minorities not paying theirs. On top of that, I am sick of seeing them held to a different standard than the white students (Of course its a lower and more lenient standard)."

This is a kid who "can't blame" other people on the edge who might snap. He insinuates that he is one of them, as he follows that comment with "I myself . . ." And then he follows that with "On top of that . . ."; in other words, he is beyond ready to snap. He is a racist with guns ready to snap.

His second email confirms this:

"I was wondering why a swastika painted by some frustrated ladies in their bathroom turned somehow into red flags of a hate crime"

Somehow? This kid needs to be kicked out of the university: "More people than you can imagine are tired of this all. It’s just sad that they resort to petty vandalism rather than speak their mind like I am."

Note I said kicked out of the university. Not sent to the Gulag.

MelchyBeau · #6 10-11-2007, 05:45 PM

I think it should also be pointed out that this is a private university.

VayaConDios · #7 10-11-2007, 09:02 PM

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I think it should also be pointed out that this is a private university.

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Let's not start holding the utopians to their own standards now.

One Outer · #8 10-11-2007, 07:40 PM

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I think it should also be pointed out that this is a private university.

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Further, this kid needs a mental health evaluation and should have been suspended.

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in other words, he is beyond ready to snap. He is a racist with guns ready to snap.

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First of all, gun nuts scare me. Period.

I am a student at Hamline. I also have direct personal knowledge of Troy Scheffler's behavior. He made a big stink about his gun rights last year, even managing to get an article about himself in City Pages, a very popular free newpaper in the Twin Cities, here:

http://www.citypages.com/databank/28...ticle15402.asp

This man is severely unbalanced. His public comments in addition to the content of his emails to university administration are unnerving to say the least. He is also suspected of being the culprit behind some racist graffiti found in a residence hall last year (I kind of doubt this, but it says a lot about a guy when we hear that someone wrote something about "[censored]" in a res hall bathroom and everyone's first thought is "It's probably Troy Scheffler").

I'm glad the administration did what it did. I feel safer. Furthermore, this is a private institution and they can do pretty much whatever they damn well please. In this case, I'm really glad they don't have to worry about violating this guy's rights in order to keep him off campus. And, to go even further, I'm not even comfortable with the idea of sharing a campus with someone that feels he should be able to carry a gun around.

EDIT: This is also a ridiculous thread. We're essentially talking about a private institution that is doing something that is completely within it's rights in order to protect the student body and all others on campus to the best of their ability. If this thread even had a place it would belong in the "Crazy Bigot News and the Almost As Crazy Wingnuts That Defend Them Forum" but unfortunately no such thing exists.

blufish · #9 10-11-2007, 07:44 PM

and you had me all the way up to here:

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[And, to go even further, I'm not even comfortable with the idea of sharing a campus with someone that feels he should be able to carry a gun around.

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xorbie · #10 10-11-2007, 08:37 PM

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and you had me all the way up to here:

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[And, to go even further, I'm not even comfortable with the idea of sharing a campus with someone that feels he should be able to carry a gun around.

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Same, but I wouldn't want *this* guy carrying a gun around.