In an age of uncontrollable political correctness and micro-aggression across America's colleges, one university has taken a different tack this week. Speaking to an estimated 10,000 strong campus community, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. urged students, staff and faculty at his Christian school to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon on campus, so that "we could end those Muslims before they walked in." Students reportedly erupted into applause at the call to arms.
“It just blows my mind when I see that the President of the United States [says] that the answer to circumstances like that is more gun control,” he said.
As AP reports [2], Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. urged students, staff and faculty at his Christian school to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon on campus to counter any copycat attack like the deadly rampage in California just days ago.
"Let's teach them a lesson if they ever show up here," Falwell told an estimated 10,000 of the campus community at convocation Friday in Lynchburg. While Falwell's call to arms was applauded, his remarks also seemed to target Muslims.
"I've always thought if more good people had concealed carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in .," Falwell said. The final words of his statement could not be clearly heard on a videotape of the remarks.
However, Falwell told The Associated Press on Saturday he was specifically referring to Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the husband and wife who shot and killed 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino on Wednesday.
Falwell also said he believed the campus needed to be prepared in the face of the increasing frequency of mass killings. He cited, for example, the 2007 massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, and less than 100 miles southwest of Liberty.
"What if just one of those students or one of those faculty members had a concealed permit and was carrying a weapon when the shooter walked into Virginia Tech? Countless lives could have been saved," he said.
Falwell's remarks generated a sharp rebuke from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who called the comments "reckless."
"My administration is committed to making Virginia an open and welcoming Commonwealth, while also ensuring the safety of all of our citizens," McAuliffe said in a statement issued late Saturday. "Mr. Falwell's rash and repugnant comments detract from both of those crucial goals."
But Falwell's message is apparently being heeded. He said more than 100 people had asked Liberty police about a free class to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
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Liberty University, an evangelical school in Lynchburg, Va., has a reputation as a conservative college; and as a reminder, Falwell is the son of the late Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell, who infamously blamed the 9/11 terrorist attacks on abortionists and homosexuals.
