Issue 155

Professors' View: Edward Orser

08th May 2007

Virginia born Edward Orser, a visiting Professor here at Swansea University, has a personal view that there is a need for much more stringent restrictions on the presence of guns in his country. He feels that the gun culture should be tightened, despite there being a personal right to bear arms in the United States.

When asked if, due to the open gun culture of the US and the previous shooting incidents which have taken place on American campuses, it was an event which was inevitable at some point in time, he said that he had never thought of it as an issue as it is not an expectation for students to have guns with them on campus and when it did happen, it was a rare occurrence despite traditions of having guns being very previlant. He said that he has no sympathy at all for the stance that the National Rifle Association has taken, as they remain adamently against any sort of gun control in their country.

Having visited the Virginia Tech college campus itself, Professor Orser commented that it is a large university with a sprawling campus. He also said that there was a large number of students who are studying there as it is always a popular choice of place to study in America. When he first became aware of the shootings, he said he felt "staggered" and felt it was a tragic and senseless occurrence.

When talking about how the gunman's creative writing had been questioned by lecturers and how he himself as a lecturer may deal with it if he was in a situation like that, he talked of academic freedom issues and the very thin line between what he could do as a faculty member and what he could not do. "Students are adults. At what point does a faculty member intervene?"

Having a close relationship with Virginia as a place, he commented that it has a strong resistance to the gun control. He added that he hoped this event would be a big wake-up call, although news reports seem to suggest that although people are obviously upset by it, not a lot will happen because of it politically, which is a tragedy in itself.

To have your say on this topic, head over to our World News blog and leave us a comment.

Kimberley Davies