Ohio State University President Michael Drake recently referenced the campus-carry bill currently moving through the Ohio legislature, saying “myself nor none of my colleagues think that’s a good idea, of course.” Drake claimed the car-and-knife attacker “was neutralized by a professional within one minute, and that would be how we think things should go.” He mentioned another campus incident where “the threat was neutralized within one minute and injuries were kept to a minimum, and we think that’s how things are designed to work.”
Drake is wrong on two points. First, his implication that campus security’s response time is one minute is absurd; typical response times to 911 calls nationwide are between nine and 11 minutes.
Second, a lot can happen in one minute: 11 students were injured badly enough to send them to the hospital. Barring 15 million legal permit holders, who have a remarkable safety record, is not “how things should go.” In fact, Drake is actually enabling such attacks.
Eleven wounded students is not acceptable in pursuit of a political agenda.
