POCATELLO — An instructor was wounded in the foot after his concealed handgun discharged in a classroom at the Physical Science Complex on the Idaho State University campus at about 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Pocatello police received a call of a shot fired on campus and responded to the Physical Science Complex where they discovered the wounded instructor, according to Pocatello police public information officer Lt. Paul Manning. There were other people present when the gun discharged.
“It was in his pocket,” Manning said. “He did have an enhanced concealed carry permit.”
The instructor, who was teaching in the chemistry department, was not taken by ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center, but his wound was treated and he was released from the hospital Tuesday evening.
“It's unfortunate,” ISU President Arthur Vailas said. “I'm sure the incident was scary and embarrassing.”
Vailas, who is a gun owner and hunter, said he likes guns but not on campus. He joined other Idaho university professors and chief of police from cities with universities during the last Idaho legislative session in opposition to legislation that now allows concealed carry on campuses in Idaho so long as the person has obtained an enhanced permit. Enhanced permits require additional training.
The new law went into effect on July 1 and Idaho State opted to arm its campus security force for the first time as a result.
“When they passed this law it was bound to happen,” Vailas said about gun accidents on campus.
A student on campus, Chad Conner of Pocatello, said he hadn't heard about the accidental shooting Tuesday evening, but he still supports the guns on campus legislation.
And Conner understands something about accidental weapon discharges. About 11 years ago he lost the little finger on his left hand when a Glock 22 .40 caliber handgun he was handling went off.
He said the accident happened after he demonstrated to a friend who was going to purchase the weapon how to disassemble and reassemble the parts. The friend then tried the same thing, but didn't put all the pieces in the right place. When they loaded a round, it failed to fire. The gun discharged by surprise a few minutes later.
“I don't think guns kill people,” Conner said. “People and negligence do.”
Even though Conner supports guns on campus, he said he doesn't carry a weapon at ISU. He's in the robotics program in the College of Technology and said, “I don't see any need for that kind of protection for myself.”
Conner did have a reaction to the accident shooting by the instructor.
“I'm glad he shot himself and nobody else,” Conner said.
President Vailas said there is something that puzzles him about the shooting incident that he hopes the investigation will clear it up.
“I've got to wonder why it discharged,” Vailas said.
Discharging a firearm within city limits is a misdemeanor, but police said any charges will be determined when the investigation is completed.
(16) comments
FYI: Apparently a new course is being offered at Idaho State University: "Shooting Yourself in the Foot 101" with instructor Dr. Byron L. Bennett PHD. Email: chemistry@isu.edu and/or bennbyro@isu.edu for more information.
It's like the Founding Fathers said, "The Tree of Liberty must occasionally be watered with the blood of a professor's toe."
Don, ISU classrooms were much safer before this law was enacted. This law comes directly from campaign donations made by the NRA to the governors office. The same group that spreads fear in order to increase sales for gun manufacturers . This law had absolutely zero to do w campus safety . The campuses were safe , that no longer is true.
It's just a matter of time before one of these morons kills a student.
At least it was his own foot and not someone else's.
Nothing to do w training. More guns =more violence . This will only get worse as long as u have people that think they have the right to endanger those around them bc they are wanna be police . I mean u u feel the need to arm yourself in your home hey that's fine, but don't put others at risk . Can u see this guy fending off a "bad guy" in the classroom if he can't even store it correctly?
We finally agree on something! Well said. [wink]
Pull your kids out of ISU. The chances of a classroom shooting was low until this law passed. Now less than a year it happens. This campus is no longer safe.
The professor's name is know and my wife is in his class, luckily she stepped out of the room to get ice for a lab experiment just before it happened. They wont release his name as a part of protocol I'm sure and not to hush people by any means... I want to know what kind of "training" he received for this special permit... Anyone who's ever had any gun experience knows that putting a gun in your pocket with a live round in the chamber with the safety off is a bad idea. Then there's the question of how was the trigger pulled?
Honestly I hope this isn't just swept under the rug because he's a professor. I don't feel comfortable having my wife go back to class unless his permit is taken away and he leaves his gun at home.
Why didn't the Idaho State Journal identify the professor so students can make an informed decision if they want to take a class from him.
Also he is a public employee. Identify him...
And exactly WHY should ISU provide training, even a refresher course for someone who CHOOSES to carry?
Why wasn't a campus alert email sent out when a shot was fired in a classroom building?
President Vailas said "it was bound to happen." So I have to wonder why he hasn't spent a nickel to give training to those who carry on campus. Maybe this incident wouldn't have happened if this instructor had received some simple refresher training.
But President Vailas did manage to ask for and receive a supplemental budget of $798,700 for security personnel salaries ($478,500), training for those security guards ($128,500), and equipment ($191,000). The equipment includes guns, metal detectors, and personal protective equipment. After this year, an annual budget of $613,700 was approved for ISU for "security."
This incident wouldn't have been "bound to happen" had Vailas bothered to spend just a fraction of that money for training for the few people who carry on campus.
Locally, firearms training costs about $80 per person per day. Vailas could have provided 9975 man-days of training to those who carry concealed. He could easily have provided several days of training to everyone on campus who has a concealed carry permit. He could have provided a day's worth of training to every single person on campus who is eligible to get the permit. That would have eliminated the risk.
But he won't. University administrators want gun control on campus and accident prevention does not serve that interest. The Idaho Legislature relieved universities of all civil and criminal liability for accidents involving firearms. But accident provides the opportunity to demand repeal of the law. Despite their claim that their job is to provide a safe environment, don’t expect administrators to do anything to mitigate the "risk" of allowing peaceable armed citizens on campus.
Across the state, the universities and colleges asked for almost $3.5 million this year, and $2.2 million annual, to implement their perceived costs to implement the law.
But not a nickel will be spent where it counts.
How about PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY on the part of the gun owner/professor? He had the money to buy the gun and ammo, surely he could have paid $80 for his firearms training.
@Don___
Are you seriously blaming the school because this guy shot himself in the foot? Since when are Universities responsible for fire arms training for the faculty that voluntarily carry? Should they start paying for advanced motorcycle safety training for the faculty licensed for that as well? Or lifeguard training for faculty that use the pool? Why should the University, and by extension the taxpayers, have to pay for the extracurriculars of their faculty?
Not only that but how was the University to know he had a concealed carry? Granted I'm not familiar with the details of the law but I have not heard of any provision that the individual register with or inform the University that they have a permit. For the University to pay for training as you suggested I'm sure he would have to inform the University that he have a permit, which no doubt you would also have a problem with.
bobintb,
Of course I'm not blaming the school. The professor was negligent. He was either carrying a defective pistol (unlikely), carrying a pistol in his pocket with a defective holster (unlikely), or was carrying a pistol in his pocket without a holster. In any case, a modern pistol in good repair does not fire unless something pulls the trigger. It was either his finger (negligence) or something else carried in the same pocket as the pistol (negligence) that pressed on the trigger. Regardless of what happens in court, he should be fired for gross negligence.
Now, let's examine the facts:
1) The law is in place and will remain in place for at least another 10 months,
2) The university's current plan to prevent an incident like this failed completely,
The university administrators believe the following, have said so publicly, and I'll accept them at their word:
A) They are professionals,
B) They have a responsibility to provide a safe environment on campus and they take it seriously,
C) People who receive more firearms training are safer. The administrators themselves say highly trained people with regular refresher training are qualified to carry firearms on campus. From their FAQ about guns on campus (http://www.isu.edu/pubsafe/policies/ISUSafetyFAQ.pdf) "ISU is implementing a number of security measures to ensure that it remains one of the safest college campuses in the nation. These include ... arming highly trained campus security officers" and "They have received training in the use of firearms from one of the two authorized law enforcement training programs in the state. In addition, they receive regular refresher training in firearms use."
But, their current plan of hiring an additional security officers, increasing the salaries of the current officers, providing even more training for their own people, and buying guns and vests does nothing to prevent incidents like what happened yesterday.
Since the administrators are professionals who have a responsibility to provide a safe environment, in compliance with Idaho law and State Board of Education policies, they must re-examine their current policy, for the following reasons:
1) Security officers were not in the classroom. So, no salary increases, equipment upgrades, firearms purchases, metal detectors, or additional training for the officers will prevent or mitigate incidents like this in the future.
2) The law and the Idaho Constitution prevents them from banning guns in the classroom.
The only way to prevent negligent discharges in the classrooms is to ensure that the people carrying the guns do so safely and responsibly. More training is the only way to do that. Responsible professionals would ensure that the people carrying guns on their campus are highly trained individuals with regular refresher training.
Maybe you can come up with some other way. The law will be in place for at least 10 more months and likely for a lot longer. What would you suggest that would reduce the likelihood of future incidents like the one yesterday?
bobbintb,
You ask " Should they start paying for advanced motorcycle safety training for the faculty licensed for that as well?" After several students were hit by cars on 4th and 5th street, the administrators worked with the city and the state to reduce the speed limit during school hours, made the crossings more visible, posted highly visible signs on the street, educated students about being careful while crossing the street, etc.
They didn't ban cars on campus or on the streets around campus. They worked within the law to ensure drivers near campus acted more responsibly.
Seems like they could do the same thing with firearms.
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