“I spent 27 years in the Army. I put a round in the chamber when I was fixing to kill somebody. I didn’t walk around even in a war zone with a round in my chamber.” – UT associate vice president for campus security Bob Harkins in Guns and college football: Texas law puts coaches in tough situations [via cbssports.com]
I’m not too sure I’d believe that.
Apparently, not everyone in the military understands that the Constitution applies to us simple folk who call ourselves citizens.
A fact that I have observed on this is that military service doesn’t teach some why they are serving, to uphold and protect the constitution of the United States. I have had the most amazing discussions with vets going back to the Korean War that were complete liberals and completely anti 2A! I think they were like the before their service and were the same after. Military service didn’t change them a bit.
Someone aught to tell him the army has changed that imbicile policy in recent wars.
That’s a good story grandpa.
No need for disrespect. That “Grandpa” was a warrior and served his country for 28yrs. He has earned his right to his opinion.
If it is a right, it does not have to be earned. And his opinion is wrong. Just like your opinion that 28+ years as a government employee somehow entitles a person to respect.
If that person has done the job with responsibility, ethics and expertise, yes, that person is deserving of respect. As far as opinions is concerned, we all have a right to an opinion but no right to have that opinion necessarily respected, specially if the opinion is base on ignorance or a false premise. The “no round in the chamber” is uncomfortable for many but the Israelis had a policy of doing that in an urban environment years back but their were trained to unholster, action the slide and shoot if needed be, in one swift movement. Not sure I want to carry that way but I trained to do it just out of curiosity and is not difficult to learn but all muscle movement take thousands of repetitions to become instinctive. The rational was to give yourself time in case you were disarmed by surprise in a terrorist urban combat scenario. The scenario more likely to happen is getting caught in a CQC and if your gun has no round chambered, you better be well trained in the instant manipulation of the weapon.
Hate to tell you this, may come as a shock, but your opinion is not worth a dime more than anyone else’s. Just because you don’t like someone else’s opinion does not make it wrong and because you like it does not make it right.
There is a difference between 28 years writing equal opportunity regulations or EPA diktats and putting your soul on the line for others.
If you can’t understand that then nothing will ever make a difference to you.
That doesn’t mean we have to agree with his idiotic logic. Even veterans of the revolutionary war, in later years after some had become congressional figures, had epic and downright insulting arguments.
No you can earn the right to the opinion that the government can take away my God given rights
He opened his stupid cockholster and decided to spew his opinion upon us. For that he has earned the right for people to reply and disagree with his stance. He also needs to learn not to look like FLAME DELETED.
“He also needs to learn not to look like PATTON OSWALT.”
FIFY
28 years of service and still doesn’t understand basic freedoms as enumerated by the Constitution he swore to protect?
The fact that he fought valiantly at Hamburger Hill 50 years ago in Vietnam doesn’t make him his any smarter than John McCain or less of a failure of supporting and defending the Constitution than former SEAL Admiral McRaven.
What is article really indicates is that he thinks college footballers are a bunch of irresponsible drunken children. Fine, what does that have to do with my right to carry when I returned to night classes after 25 years to get a masters in education or my 26 year son who works and attends college part time to finish his engineering degree?
Answer: Not a damn thing.
He didn’t have to earn that right,It was was guaranteed to him by the 1st, Which is protected by the 2nd!!!
He’s just an Associate VP which means he essentially a relatively higher paid worker-bee. What this means is that, in the comfy and oh-so politically-correct environment of UT Austin, there is a “received wisdom” about gun carrying on campus that comes out of the president’s office. If you work in the UT admin and want to keep your job you’d damn well better know what the boss expects you to say. Comments like this from the bowels of a university’s bureaucracy have about as much credibility as those coming from the bowels of a municipal (i.e., city) bureaucracy. This guy is just being a shill for the boss. It’s just part of the job so I’ll give him a break on this. He knows he’s blowing smoke and so do we.
Mr. Harkin’s salary is $204,079 to be exact. I’d say that’s more than “relatively high paid” worker bee.
I’ll bet this perfumed warrior didn’t so much as whimper when the Univ. of Texas removed statues dedicated to Confederate veterans. Such men without chins are not role models for anyone.
When you’re paid to tell lies in the name of advancing an agenda…. you tell your lies in the name of advancing your agenda. No matter how many years go by without a licensed carrier shooting anyone, there will forever be a dearth of “experts” attacking the issue from oblique angles with their lies.
And there is no question this guy is a liar. The military has always carried a round in the chamber when they are in a hostile zone. He’s either the stolen valor type liar who doesn’t know what the military does, or he’s a sellout type liar who knows damn well that’s not the practice.
Agree with your assessment, but FYI ‘dearth’ is not what I think you meant. Perhaps either an autocorrect or typo mistake – ‘dearth’ means scarce or inadequate supply
would you say he has a “plethora” instead?
Jefe…what is a plethora?
Isn’t a plethora part of a females anatomy? Like “when I was in the service, I saw a plethora of plethoras.”
You are correct. I’ll blame my wife, she often uses it incorrectly.
Ummm, so? Whats your point control freak lip flapper?
“We said it was complicated. Given the tragedies at Columbine, Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech, the question needs to be asked: Why doesn’t every coach in the country ban guns right now?”
And so it was when and where those shootings happened. All Gun Free Zones. And this moronic writer is trying to convince us that continuing that policy is the right course of action? This is how I define stupidity.
Meh… You do your thing, I’ll do mine. I think I’ll continue to keep a rou nd in all 6 chambers.
Army: Military force. Not a police force (and shouldn’t be used as such).
Police: Civilian government service intended to protect American society at large, but with no obligation to protect individuals.
Concealed-carry permit holder: Private citizen who chooses to carry a firearm for first-line-of-defense personal protection, perhaps due to the knowledge that the above organizations are irrelevant to the discussion, and have no obligation to protect an individual, respectively.
See the difference, sir?
Nailed it!
+1
Bingo.
This guy was likely a senior officer. Probably had thousands of soldiers around him with loaded firearms. Probably spent most of his time in the rear. So, in some scenarios I could believe he didn’t have around the chamber. If he wasn’t a senior officer and he didn’t have around the chamber, he was undisciplined, ignorant and/or stupid. Also, he uses the terms “war zone”, not exactly terms you use when you’re actually in the fight.
I agree with Tim, he could be the stolen valor type.
The current policy overseas is that you do not carry a round in the chamber while on a USAF base (I can’t speak for the other services). However, Code Red is the descriptor for the conditions of carrying one in the chamber and is used anytime you’re off base, are in the Afghan controlled portion of the base because of how many Green on Blue attacks there have been, or when your base is under attack. I had a round in the chamber every time we were in Code Red. I would be lying if I claimed that the vast portion of the base didn’t carry one in the chamber all the time.
Putting a round in the chamber wasn’t when I was “fixing to kill someone”. It was determined by the threat levels and response times. I never once shot someone, but I had a round in the chamber a bunch. Pointing a gun at someone is what you do when you’re “fixing to kill” and thankfully I never had to do that either.
Is it just me, or does anyone else have a cold chill whenever a government “official” declares whether or not you will be “ALLOWED” to exercise your civil rights? I don’t think that state Governors actually possess the authority to restrict Constitutional rights, let alone a football coach.
…”I didn’t walk around even in a war zone with a round in my chamber…”
Don’t even know how to begin unpacking his statement, but thats some farm animal stupid right there.
Why you dissin my farm animals like that? They’re much smarter than that.
Bob is either full of shit or a bold face liar.
Likely a fobbit.
REMF.
I stopped reading after the Sandy Hook & Columbine comment. It’s always great when people stand on dead bodies to lecture me about things they don’t understand.
Guys like this are always crying blood in the streets.
While the boss doesn’t allow us to conceal carry at work, he and his various mistresses/assistants have CC’ed at work for the last 15 years without incident.
There’s been no blood!
That is only because his wife doesn’t carry.
Bob Harkins is the the Associate Vice President for Campus Safety and Security at University of Texas at Austin. He coordinates the activities of emergency preparedness, environmental health and safety, fire prevention services, parking and transportation services, and the University of Texas at Austin Police Department. With more than 12 years of extensive knowledge experience he leads the campus safety and security programs of two major universities. Prior to assuming this position, he spent 27 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a colonel. During his military career, he was awarded two silver stars for valor and two Purple Hearts.
http://ipiconference.parking.org/2015/profile.cfm?profile_name=person&master_key=AAC6EDF2-A005-0962-09A4-46DCA10D6275&page_key=FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF&role_key=AAC783A8-9F80-E129-C0AA-CC052D213626&xtemplate
Former Commander Remembers Hamburger Hill
By Staff Sgt. Joel SalgadoMay 16, 2014
Colonel (Ret.) Bob Harkins, joined the Army after receiving his commission from Ohio State University in June 1965. Shortly after, Harkins deployed to the Republic of Vietnam with the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.
After serving his first tour, Harkins returned to Vietnam with the 101st’s 3rd Brigade as a company commander with Company A, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment “Iron Rakkasans.”
“We didn’t stay places,” he said. “We moved around quite a bit.”
One of the places Harkins found himself was the A Shau Valley. The valley had traditionally been used as an infiltration route into the Republic of Vietnam by the North Vietnamese forces. It was from the A Shau Valley that the North Vietnamese Army launched the Tet Offensive in 1968.
Harkins, with the rest of the brigade launched Operation Apache Snow to sweep the A Shau Valley of enemy forces.
On May 11, the Rakkasans attacked entrenched enemy forces at Dong Ap Bia better known as Hamburger Hill.
Eventually the Rakkasans along with the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 506th Inf. Reg. “Currahees” and their Army of the Republic of Vietnam allies took the hill after ten days of fighting.
After U.S. forces took Hamburger Hill, it ceased to have any military significance, Harkins explained.
“Like today’s military, we did not make the decision, or choose the fight, or choose the time to engage in combat,” he said. “Many Vietnam vets were drafted into the Army. We were proud Americans that wanted to do our part to make the world safer.”
Following his return from Vietnam in December 1969, Harkins continued his military service as a battalion commander for 3rd Bn., 32nd Inf., 7th Light Inf. Div., and went on to develop training products for the U.S. Army infantry in the 1980’s.
During the Gulf War, Harkins was a brigade commander, synchronizing the famous “end run”, a flanking maneuver of more than 250,000 soldiers spread over several hundred miles, who moved deep into Iraqi territory from the Saudi Arabian border behind the Iraqi forces.
Harkins retired in 1993 and went on to complete a master’s degree from Auburn University and a doctorate degree in education from the University of Pittsburg.
He is currently the Associate Vice President for Campus Safety and Security for the University of Texas at Austin.
https://www.army.mil/article/126180/Former_Commander_Remembers_Hamburger_Hill/
And lying fascist government thug
Very meritorious service in my opinion.
It’s also my opinion that he sullying his name and his record by advancing a political agenda that he probably doesn’t believe in and that he knows is contrary to the oath he took to defend the Constitution of his country.
For money.
He’s what we call a liar.
He was a company commander at hamburger hill which means he was in the fight. Probably had a round chambered. ‘Two silver stars and two purple hearts. Could be everyone here has an issue with his politics concerning campus carry but I would like everyone here who can match his military credentials to raise his or her hand. I did my time in the infantry in Vietnam with the 1st air cavalry, some of it in Ashau Valley. That place was no picnic. To people charging him with stolen valor maybe you should do your homework before you make charges just because you do not like his politics.
No, stolen valor is the wrong term for his ilk. It seems he served in combat honorably enough.
Benedict Arnold if the more correct term. Just like for John McCain.
Prior valor doesn’t allow you a tratorist free-pass later on.
Not to disparage a fellow Vietnam veteran, but I was in the field as a grunt my entire time there (including Tet ’68) and I NEVER knew or heard of a combat troop that walked around without a round in his chamber and the safety on. Since there were no front lines and an attack could come from any direction, it was wise to always be ready to shoot, rather than saying “Hold on a minute while I chamber a round…” when the ambush was going down. I even slept with my weapons in condition one – the only reason the round came out of the chamber was when I was cleaning them. The only exception was when a troop might have gone on a trip to the rear (Da Nang) and had to conform to the rules there, where the pogues had three hots and a cot, clubs and cold beer, a big PX, and walked around in starched, pressed uniforms and carried M-14s with NO ammo. I note that COL Harkins was a company commander at the time of the Hamburger Hill fight, a billet in which he could have been up front with the troops or tucked safely in his headquarters to the rear, and he probably carried a .45 pistol as his primary weapon (he had lots of troops around him for security), probably adding an M16A1 when necessary – with his participation in combat only as a last resort. Later, as a battalion commander and a brigade commander, he would have been in the rear most (if not all) of the time, and had far less reason for having a chambered round in his issue pistol. I attribute his anti-gun confusion to the post-military higher education he received, most likely from lefty professors.
That sound more like it.
I don’t think that he got his Purple Hearts or Silver Stars by fighting from the rear.
Maybe if he’s had a round in the chamber he wouldn’t have gotten those purple hearts?
I recommend reading the comments on CBS the author is getting hammered; feel free to get in a few hits as long as you are there.
No. The question is in light of active shooters on campuses in the past, why doesn’t every coach in America have a CCW License and carry to protect their players?
another F**king Zero that thinks he knows better than everyone else what is good for us, must be an adherent of Israeli carry. Pardon my flutter salute,
Predictably, Dennis Dodd, the liberal who penned the article for CBS Sports didn’t hesitate to use deception, innuendo, leftist propaganda, and outright lies to redefine the 2nd amendment.
Here’s a portion of Dodd’s article that perfectly illustrates how liberals apply leftist logic and deception to navigate around that pesky 2nd amendment standing in the way of their dream to force an Aussie style gun ban in the U.S., he wrote; “In the Second Amendment, the so-called “right to bear arms” is a military term rooted in states’ ability to drive off Indian tribes or foreign invaders. Law professor Carl Bogus has suggested the 226-year-old amendment to the Constitution had particular value in the South where states used militias for slave control.”
Change the word, change the story! This is their motto!
IF militias were used to control slaves, it would have been ONLY if there was a slave revolt. Yes, militias were used to keep law and order. So? What does that have to do with the price of tea in China or the wording of the Second amendment, which wording was definitively established by Heller, an opinion of the Supreme Court that is constantly being swept under the carpet–for obvious reasons.
Overall, I’m still confused as to what Sandy Hook and Columbine have to do with CC on a college campus.
I care WHY?!? What he did in the army has NOTHING to do with NOW. MY son carried a gun in combat and I sure he!! don’t respect his fudd opinion!
Sooo he think his campus is a warzone? Or what? The comparison is not even close to sound.
Plus that is a moronic policy for soldiers anyway. “Hey timeout guys! Gotta charge my weapon quick so I can fire back.”
Right.
His point is that it is not a war zone, and thus there is no need to keep one in the pipe–or to carry at all when it comes right down to it, but he can’t say that because the state law on the subject is absolutely clear.
“I spent 27 years in the Army. For most of that time, I walked around utterly unprepared for the situation I found myself in.”
Fixed it for you!
Thank you, sir, for your service defending my right to walk around prepared for the situations I find myself in.
Fixed it for ya- “ I didn’t walk around even in a war zone with a round in my chamber because I was not confident enough in my weapon handling skills and I was unsure if I would accidentally shoot myself or someone else.”
So, clearly his discussion of whether or not someone has a round chambered means that he has conceded the need to be armed on campus.
Not necessarily. All that he has necessarily conceded is that state law mandates that the University must allow concealed carry, whether he agrees with the “need” for such or not.
The thing about “war zones” is how predictable they are. You tend to know exactly where they are and when you are in one. Real life? Not so much.
“Many Vietnam vets were drafted into the Army. We were proud Americans that wanted to do our part to make the world safer.”
Umm, then why did they wait until they got drafted?
Probably because many young men turned 18 in their last year of high school or shortly thereafter, and if their number came up in the lottery, off they went as soon as they graduated and were otherwise ineligible for deferment.
“I didn’t walk around even in a war zone with a round in my chamber.”
You were doing it wrong.
He only ” put a round in the chamber when I was fixing to kill somebody.”???
Since he retired as a Colonel that figures. Never having had to actually fight the enemy, the only times he ever had to actually use a firearm was probably to defend himself from his own men.
Yet another educated egghead with all the real world sense of a rock. If that much…
https://www.facebook.com/utaustinpolice/posts/983692031668823
What he did “back then” has zero bearing on anything related to the topic at hand. None.
TYFYS. stfu.
So let me ask you this, Col. Harkins, do campus police go around campus with no bullet in the chamber? Do police in Austin do so? [Hell, for that matter do police ANYWHERE in this country do so?] I think not, even though none of them are in a “war zone” nor preparing to kill anybody. The fact of the matter is that the rules for civilians and the rules for military are different.
Mr Harkins,
First, thank you for your years of service. Military service is like writing a blank check for your life and giving it to Uncle Sam and that is something that not everyone can do.
Then to your current situation…. you need to understand that you are no longer in the Military, you are no longer a Colonel, you don’t get to tell people what to do or how. You are now a civilian and are dealing with other civilians who are under no obligation to follow your ideas in how things should be done. I know after twenty-something years of telling people how to do things it can be a rough transition but if you don’t understand this simple concept you are going to find yourself in a position of trouble. You are going to expect someone to respond to your commands in some situation and they are not going to do so because you are not their father nor are you their leader.
If you prefer a shorter version of what I said…. you are no longer in the military, you are in charge of security on campus, you are dealing with adults who don’t care what your opinion of them is and the care even less about your opinion of how they do what they do.
So, for 27+ years he was ill prepared in case of an emergency.
It means nothing to me how much time a person spent in the military, when that person is against civil rights. Many white soldiers who came back from war didn’t think the black soldiers who fought next to them had the same rights as white people. Combat veterans like the Deacons For Defense and Justice have a different point of view on open carry of weapons in American history, than this white combat veteran.
I glad this old white man believes he is safe where he works and travels and lives. Other Americans are not as lucky as him. We hear gun fire at night where we sleep. Some of us have to worry about a stray bullet. I’m glad this important college leader has the school police on speed dial, when he needs them.
As a coach does he know of any physical attacks his players have committed against another student???
I spent 21 years in the army. I never saw combat. But there are many people in america who have seen combat in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Stockton CA, Oakland CA, Chicago, and Baltimore MD. And those same people never served in the US military.
“In the Second Amendment, the so-called “right to bear arms” is a military term rooted in states’ ability to drive off Indian tribes or foreign invaders.
Law professor Carl Bogus has suggested the 226-year-old amendment to the Constitution had particular value in the South where states used militias for slave control.
Bogus wrote: “The basic instrument of control was the slave patrol” that would “impress upon the slaves that whites were armed, watchful and ready to respond to insurrectionist activity …” “
Holy moly! What is this guy on that precipitated this hallucination?
Whose army was this guy in?
Oooooh! Carter years.
Yes, after the incompetence of the military during the carter administration they allowed the military to actually be ready to fight. It stayed that way until Clinton, then Bush fixed it, that Obama reintroduced stupidity to the military, and now Trump is working on repealing ‘the dumb’.
I’m sure it just a coincidence that our military is ordered to ‘direct traffic and loose’ when the democrats take office.
Hey, times have changed since 1902!
Don’t really think the round in the chamber is because the open carry advocate is fixing to kill someone. The issue is, someone may be preparing to kill them. Hence the need for one in the chamber.
You can’t really tell the bad guy to hang on a second while I rack my magazine to get a round chambered. Ok, now go ahead and proceed with your assault. I’m ready now.
We can look to US History to show that school campus was a safe place until a man killed his family and then started shooting from the University of Texas Tower.
Students and faculty retrieved their lawfully owed rifles from their vehicles and kept the shooter at bay until law enforcement was able to stop him dead.
There was no blood in the streets of the campus from law abiding students who were free to have firearms.
Don’t know when grandpa here did his time, but normally you go red/cond 1 outside the wire. Condition yellow/2 is for around the FOB. Should say something right there.
Had an artillery major insisted we clear our weapons on the firing line in a really bad neighborhood, abroad, not Chicago. No idea why an artillery major was giving us orders. Being the civilized savages that we were about to become, we politely complied, we waited until he was about five positions past and then locked, slapped, and charged firearm. After the first firefight we never saw that major again.
Comments are closed.