A mindless, embarrassing response
Isn't it amazing how smart people can sometimes be so stupid? One assumes that the people who run the University of Toronto, one of Canada's preeminent universities, are relatively bright.

But then again, how do we explain the idiotic decision by the university brass to close the 88-year-old Hart House Rifle and Revolver Club?

The decision, which a university spokesman described as a "values" question, apparently is supposed to have something to do with a recent spurt of gun-related shootings in Toronto's guns and gangs culture.

That makes about as much sense - actually, even less - than the calls by Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant and Toronto Mayor David Miller for an outright cross- Canada ban on all handguns, as if a ban would have any impact whatsoever on the criminals who are using their illegally-obtained guns to shoot each other.

In the uproar over this university decision - which some hope to appeal even though the autocratic academic leaders say is not appealable - Rob Steiner, an assistant vicepresident of the university, was quoted as saying that "It was generally felt that the presence of a gun range on campus 80 years ago might have been consistent with our academic values ... in the last 10 years those values started to deviate.

"This is really a values issue. This is not a safety issue as strictly defined. If there had been a safety concern it would have been shut down right away."

He went on to say, "Shooting a gun on campus. Sit with that for a second. It leaves me cold...."

Truth to tell, it wouldn't interest me either, but there's nothing wrong with it. And nobody is asking Steiner, or anybody else, to join the club.

And what, pray tell, does Steiner really mean with his code about "values?" Whose "values" are we talking about here?

The "values" of the 450 current club members - not to mention the thousands of other students over the years - who have used this range to pursue a perfectly legal hobby and, unlike any other university activity we can think of, boast a perfect record: not a single accident or incident in all those years.

Obviously, Steiner is also not speaking of the "values" of those Canadians who cheered when club member Avianna Chao - currently competing for a spot on Canada's 2008 Olympic team - won a gold medal at the recent Pan American Games in shooting.

Long before gun safety became an issue at all, the university club instituted a host of safety mechanisms which have allowed it to boost its perfect safety record. The guns are kept under lock and key - with locked doors accessible to only a highly trained few. What's more, cameras are linked directly to campus police and photo i.d. is a must for entry to the club which most students didn't even know existed until this controversy broke.

So what's the problem?

Again, university officials are lowering themselves to offer sleazy comparisons b between the existence of responsible, law-abiding target shooters in a safe environment on campus, and the murder and mayhem in certain parts of Toronto. There were even references to the recent gun incidents at Dawson College in Montreal and Virginia Tech, a cheap comparison if there ever was one.

The fact is, it's all about the self-perception of some haughty academics who obviously don't like guns and who are swept up in the notion of political correctness, no doubt relishing their superior wisdom when it comes to what students should and should not be allowed to pursue.

Maybe they should talk to Cindy Luk, a software engineer and member of the Canadian National Rifle Team. She has competed in four world cups and one world championship and is hoping to compete in the 2012 Olympics.

"I'm very disappointed because this is my primary training facility," she said. "Where do I go now?"

More to the point, why should she have to go anywhere else to pursue her legal - and socially responsible - hobby?

It's a sad commentary on people who, rather than use their power to censor, should be offering the student body as many options as possible within the confines of reasonable social and/or academic behavior.

Former U of T psychology professor Judith Ross, 68, who shot at the clubs for many years and still competes internationally, said it best in another newspaper:

"It's a mindless response and the university should be embarrassed."

Amen to that.