THE CUMPASS
gpgcial Report
Handguns on campus: 'We feel
the need to protect ourselves'
By Mark Morris, Editor
. Among the crowds of students and
jlumni on campus celebrating Home
coming the night of Oct. 19, strolled
seven Edenton youths; at least four of
were armed with handguns.
! “There were about six guys that
came with me on the campus, but
liere were more Edenton guys around
[Jan just us,” one of the youths told a
Composs repOTter. “We were stand
ing in front of Williams Hall when we
aw this group of State kids (ECSU
students) that we had an argument
vflih earlier. We passed words, started
fighting and then gun shots were fired.”
• The 20-year-old Edenton youth
said people were being hit with
bottles, sticks, fists and some-
3ne even got pistol-whipped,
ing guns on campus. The student, who
called the reporter from a pay phwie,
provided a list of guns that were avail
able for sale, including .38 and .25
caliber pistols and “.22 pistols for the
ladies.”
"Hie student gun dealer attributed
the interest in guns on campus to the
presence of New Yrak drug dealers in
Elizabeth City.
“The dealers are tough, and stu
dents need to be ready for them,” the
caller said.
ECSU students have also reported
guns being pulled on them by local
high school students who come onto
the campus to attend dances and ath
letic events.
Thirty-seven out of 50 male stu-
“When the shots rang out everyone
scattered, so I don’t know who fired
iiem,” he added. “We didn’t come on
iie yard to start trouble. We just came
jepared.”
A series of violent incidents during
^omecoming 1991—including the
iiooting of a part-time security offi-
«r—has increased ECSU students’
»ncem about their safety and the
jresence of handguns on campus. The
Compass has learned that handguns
are being carried on campus by local
^gh school students, young adults
fern surrounding communities and
some ECSU students.
Guns are also being sold in one
Tiale domitory, according to student
■eports. Without knowing his iden-
ity, a Compass reporter interviewed
)ne student who has admitted to sell-
‘'When the shots rang
out everyone scattered, so I don’t
know who fired them. We didn’t come
on the yard to start trouble. We just came
prepared.”
dents interviewed in a random survey
said they know someone who has a
gun on campus; seven students in the
survey admitted to having a gun.
The chief motivation for having a
gun seems to be precaution.
“Yes, I carry a gun and I know
others who do,” said one ECSU stu
dent. “I usually keep it in my room,
because I feel safe here as compared
to what I’ve heard about other cam
puses, but I keep it just in case.”
One male student who admitted to
having a gun on campus was not
apologetic about it.
“Yes, indeed I have a gun and I
know at least ten other people on the
yard that do,” the student said. “It’s
not that campus police aren’t doing
their Job; it’s just that there are six or
seven ways to enter this campus with
out having to confiront police so we
feel a need to protect ourselves.”
One student said he is aware ofguns
on campus because he has seen “clips
of bullets on desks beside books and
pencils.”
Six out of 50 female students sur
veyed admitted to having a gun on
■eampus. The majwity of them keep
their guns in their cars.
One older female student said she
had a gun that she kept in her truck
when she has night classes but she
didn’t feel ccnnfcHtable having her
gun on campus.
Another ECSU commuter student
said, “I carry a gun because my hus
band is in the Coast Guard and is out
of town a lot, not because I feel threat
ened o^campus. At least two or three
of my friends carry guns on
campus.” The student added
that her husband taught her
how to shooL
One female com
muter said she has
not seen anyone on
campus with a gun
but she keeps one
in her car. “I had my
gun before I was en
rolled here, not be
cause I feel threatened
on campus.”
Campus police
men say they
know first- hand of the pres
ence of fire- arms on campus.
One campus officer, who asked that
his named not be used, told The Com
pass that four handguns have been
confiscated on campus this semester:
two semi-automatic pistols and two
.38 caliber revolvers. One of the
weapons was taken after a fight and an
ensuing car chase which began next to
the R. L. Vaughan Athletic Center
and ended in Elizabeth City. The as
sailants were non-students from New
York who “were after an ECSU stu
dent,” the security officer said.
Campus police took one of the
guns from a non-student who was on
his way into the Bedell Hall Cafeteria
with the intent to shoot an ECSU stu
dent.
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“He had the gun out on
his way into the cafete
ria,” the officer said.
The officer said he
wishes campus police
could do more to con
trol the spread of fire
arms.
“We have found .38 cali
ber bullets, nine millimeter
clips, shotgun shells and
all sorts of things on
this campus,” he
said. “Fm sure
if we could
shake down just
one of these dor-
mitcMies we would
come up with at
least 25 to 30 weap-
^ rt
ons.
The officer also
recalled an incident about two
years ago when he responded to gun
shots near Butler Hall. He said by the
time he arrived some students con
firmed that an unidentified person had
fired a pistol into the air, but the per-
'We have found .38 caliber bullets,
nine millimeter clips, shotgun shells and all
sorts of things on this campus. V m sure if we
could shake down just
one of these dorniito-
ries we could come
up with at least 25 to
30 weapons.”
son was gone
by then.
Another security
officer told The Com
pass of his fear that students who
acquire drugs from “out of town drug
defers,” are in danger of being harmed
by the dealers for not paying them
money owed for the drugs.
“1 know of times when the drug
dealers were down here looking for
them (ECSU students).” he said.
T’ve been expecting some-
^ one to get hurt.
“Those New York dealers
don’t mess around.”
(Crystal Sturdivant and Kimberly
Whitaker contributed to this sto^.)
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