TO THE EDITOR:
Gun violence is an uncomfortable and thorny issue from which students have been nervously ushered away, which made it all the more exciting to read two op-eds by Zach Rachuba and Chris Dahlie from Feb. 26 debating the topic of concealed campus carry. Thank you to The Daily Tar Heel for publishing these pieces.
Through working on Students Against Gun Violence, I hear an overwhelming silence from students every single day. Did the Texas General Assembly interview and conduct focus groups with students before delivering the concealed campus carry bill to Governor Greg Abbott? Probably not. Will Governor Pat McCrory know how we UNC students feel about having firearms on the quad? What about how Duke students feel about pistols walking through their chapel? Definitely not. It seems trendy to talk about education, mental health or even racial diversity in the Oscars; yet when it comes to gun violence, all we hear is some middle-aged politician on television making questionable claims. Such silence is an injustice.
With N.C. primaries on March 15 and the presidential election on Nov. 8, we need more conversation and self-education. We need to know which legislators actually plan to create more peace and safety in our community, for the gun culture of Chapel Hill is the gun culture of UNC. It’s okay to disagree about it. It’s okay to debate. It is just not okay to remain silent.
Yusheng Zhang
First-year
Business and global studies
