No Handgun Signs

     I was at the College of Lake County for a little prep work for the upcoming semester. As I was about to enter, I noticed new decals on all of the doors: a black silhouette of a handgun with a red circle with a diameter going from 1 o'clock to 7 o'clock. OK... no handguns or guns of any kind. Gee, did we need a decal to re-enforce the obvious? Does this mean knives and machetes are OK? Why only guns? The door could have been littered with stickers. No battle axes. No chainsaws. No spears, lances, swords, hatchets, shovels, picks, or anything else that could be used as weapon. Why are there no stickers on the doors for these things. I suppose because they did not specify, I would be within my rights to to drive an M1 Abrams Tank into the building… there is no sign telling me not to.
     Who is this sign supposed to deter? Sensible, law abiding people, the 99.99% (totally my guesstimate) of us would never consider carrying any weapon into a public building like a school. How about the .01% of criminals, evildoers, or deranged men that we keep reading about not only carrying weapons into schools but then shooting people indiscriminately. Would such a sign deter them? Would someone at the end of their rope, intent on doing harm, and armed to the teeth stop in his tracks by this sign and mutter: "heck I was unaware. I guess I will just turn around and go home." Of course they wouldn't.
      Thus, the sign deters no one. Then why put them up? It seems like a small waste of money and time.
      Well, there is something in Illinois called the Firearm Concealed Carry Act. It was passed in July and allows for anyone with Firearm Owner Identification Card ( FOID Card) to get a concealed carry license for $150. It seems that Illinois is the last state in the union to pass such a law. The results of a federal court case gave the state until July 9th to enact such a law.
     Again, mostly law abiding citizens whom I would trust carrying a concealed weapon will bother to apply and pay for such license. Nefarious characters with malintent will simply carry a concealed weapon. No law or sign will deter them much from this.
     Here is a blurb from the College of Lake County’s website that kind of explains the stickers.
The College of Lake County board of trustees passed a new gun policy prohibiting anyone but sworn police officers from carrying a firearm on college-owned or controlled property. The action was taken during the board’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Dec. 17.

Under the new policy, enacted to comply with Illinois’ Firearm Concealed Carry Act, anyone with a concealed carry license coming to the Grayslake or Southlake campus in Vernon Hills must store their weapon, unloaded, in a secure case or locked container out of plain view in their parked vehicle.  

At the Lakeshore campus in Waukegan, where CLC does not own a parking facility, those with a concealed carry license must comply with the laws and regulations of the city, but as at the Grayslake and Southlake campuses, they cannot carry a weapon on campus.The College of Lake County board of trustees passed a new gun policy prohibiting anyone but sworn police officers from carrying a firearm on college-owned or controlled property. The action was taken during the board’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Dec. 17. 

Under the new policy, enacted to comply with Illinois’ Firearm Concealed Carry Act, anyone with a concealed carry license coming to the Grayslake or Southlake campus in Vernon Hills must store their weapon, unloaded, in a secure case or locked container out of plain view in their parked vehicle. At the Lakeshore campus in Waukegan, where CLC does not own a parking facility, those with a concealed carry license must comply with the laws and regulations of the city, but as at the Grayslake and Southlake campuses, they cannot carry a weapon on campus.

     CLC did the right thing per the Illinois law. The whole thing seems absurd to me: the law, the reaction to them, and the stickers on the door. I generally support the right to bear arms. I also would like to eliminate mass shootings in schools. Not sure what this law, FOID Cards, and stickers will accomplish.
     OK then... This is why these useless stickers adorn all the doors of the CLC campus. I suppose we will see them so often at all kinds of buildings and businesses. In a matter of no time, we they will be so numerous we won’t even notice them.