Anita Sarkeesian, a critic of sexism in video games, has cancelled a campus speech scheduled tomorrow after the university declined to ban guns from the venue in response to a threat of a mass shooting.
There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence, so let’s break it down.
Anita Sarkeesian is a feminist media critic who has been the subject of an ongoing campaign of harassment since 2012. Late this summer, as the #GamerGate campaign was heating up, she was driven from her home by new, specific threats against her and her family.
Sarkeesian was scheduled to speak at Utah State University tomorrow (Wednesday), but this morning several school officials received an emailed threat of “the deadliest school shooting in American history” if the speech went forward. The email’s author, who claimed to have a variety of guns and bombs in his possession, threatened a “Montreal Massacre style attack” on the speech and the campus Women’s Center — a reference to the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in which a male shooter killed fourteen women on a Montreal college campus in an explicitly anti-feminist attack.
The university announced Tuesday afternoon that the speech would be going forward with increased security, including a prohibition on “backpacks and any large bags.” This evening, however, it was announced that Sarkeesian had cancelled the talk.
So why did Sarkeesian cancel, given that she’s experienced similar threats in the past? Well, that goes back to a 2004 law that made Utah the first state in the country to require universities to allow concealed-carry permit holders to carry loaded weapons on campus. Based on the university’s statement this evening, it appears that USU does not have the discretion under the law to ban weapons from a particular event, even in the face of a specific threat against the speaker.
I have to say, this is kind of incredible. That a public university would have the ability to ban backpacks from a speech but not loaded guns strikes me as something that even many concealed-carry advocates might blanch at.
It really is extraordinary.
Update | Here’s the relevant statutory language: “Unless specifically authorized by the Legislature by statute, a local authority or state entity may not enact, establish, or enforce any ordinance, regulation, rule, or policy pertaining to firearms that in any way inhibits or restricts the possession or use of firearms. … “Local authority or state entity” includes public school districts, public schools, and state institutions of higher education.”
Second Update | Sarkeesian just tweeted that that there were “multiple specific threats made stating intent to kill me & feminists” in advance of her USU speech.
Morning Update | USU confirms that “state law prevent[s] the university from keeping people with a legal concealed firearm permit from entering the event.” They say that “University police were prepared and had a plan in place to provide extra security measures at the presentation.” Sarkeesian tweeted last night that she requested “pat downs or metal detectors” at the venue, but that “because of Utah’s open carry laws police wouldn’t do firearm searches.”
It’s not clear whether state law (or state law as interpreted by USU administrators or police) prohibits searches for firearms at campus events. But again, even if such searches had been conducted, individuals with concealed carry permits would have been allowed to bring loaded weapons into the room. According to the Guardian, such permits are available to any state resident who is “at least 21 years old, mentally competent, and hasn’t been convicted of a felony or crimes involving violence, alcohol, narcotics or ‘moral turpitude.'”
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October 14, 2014 at 11:35 pm
barkeeperin
Thank you for actually having words to say about this. I’m not sure my own blog entry is coherent, and I know it contains far less information because I am just stunned about this threat — despite having read about most of the others involving Ms. Sarkeesian (and Zoe Quinn, and most recently, Brianna Wu), this one seems to be… “worse” doesn’t even cover it. Like I said, no good words.
October 15, 2014 at 12:08 am
Ichthyic
doesn’t matter what the ordinance says. Universities are supposed to be strongholds for free speech, not allow free speech to be held hostage by “gun rights”. If EVER there was a great example of something that required civil disobedience, this is it.
the University is failing in its mission, and should be ashamed.
ALL universities in the US that are not disobeying these carry laws are failing in their mission.
it’s a sad thing to see.
it’s another stepping stone to fascism.
October 15, 2014 at 9:00 am
Wednesday Links! | Gerry Canavan
[…] Sarkeesian has canceled a planned talk at Utah State University after university officials refused to secure the venue following a mass shooting threat. In which gamers yell at a dumb chat bot from 1966 that someone […]
October 15, 2014 at 11:46 am
dolphin
Reblogged this on Dolphin and commented:
This post gives a little more depth to the flyby report earlier. These threats are credible and have been going on for some time. The fact that the perp would reference a Montreal massacre of women is very telling…
October 15, 2014 at 3:00 pm
RealDefense
Checking for weapons and asking to see carry permits would’ve been a fair compromise.
October 15, 2014 at 11:30 pm
steve
Why not televise the event and show the dumb added they cannot silence free speech
October 17, 2014 at 9:01 am
Stuff online, grass of the field edition | Denim & Tweed
[…] The NRA is killing America. A university is unable to do anything about death threats against a guest speaker because of concealed carry laws. […]
October 19, 2014 at 1:25 pm
Quickhits: Ebola fearmongering, massacre threats, GassyGoat, who gets to pick up a gun and live? - Hers.today | Different news for different mood
[…] The specific threat to enact “another Montreal massacre” at USU if they went ahead with a talk from Anita Sar…, and how Sarkeesian ended up cancelling the talk (which she normally doesn’t do following […]