To the Editor:

Re “The Republican Gun Free Zone” (The New York Times, Opinion, March 31, 2016):

Gun control is assuredly a contentious issue in the United States. Gail Collins points out the hypocrisy of the GOP leadership—whose members advocate for the abolition of gun-free zones but haven’t fought the Secret Service’s decision to ban guns at the Republican National Convention. The Bill of Rights may give Americans the right to keep and bear arms, but that does not mean civilians need to exercise that right at all times. Alarmingly, many disagree with that sentiment. This is evidenced by the change.org petition to allow firearms at the RNC that received thousands of signatures from many who were unaware of its satirical nature.

Meanwhile the GOP forges ahead with flawed policies that expose the hypocrisy of its position: in Texas, people licensed to carry a firearm may bring loaded and concealed weapons onto the premises of all state colleges and universities. Essentially, GOP leaders push for lax gun regulations where they are not personally at risk, such as on college campuses, but when the Secret Service tells them they can’t bring firearms to their own convention they don’t fight back. Why isn’t this an intolerable infringement upon a fundamental right? What happened to the legendary GOP firepower on this issue they claim to care about so passionately? While the GOP leadership sorts out its hypocritical relationship with firearms, the public ought to realize that just as there is no need for firearms at a political convention, there is no room for guns on college campuses.

-Samantha Marrus, Independent

New York, NY | Wellesley, MA