Editorials from across South Carolina: guns on campus, drilling off SC coast, school takeovers

Guns on campus

State Sen. Lee Bright, a Republican from Spartanburg, has sponsored a bill that would allow students to bring guns onto public and private college campuses.

Current state law bans most guns on campuses. …

Allowing students to possess guns on S.C. campuses could result in more gun deaths, injuries and suicides. College students are adults, but it’s no slight to admit that many are young and impetuous. On-campus verbal altercations could lead to deadly violence when guns are added to the mix.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, and other lawmakers are simultaneously trying to let South Carolinians carry concealed weapons without having to go through the current licensing and gun-training requirements.

The result on college campuses could be students carrying guns without ever having attempted to accurately hit a target. Not surprisingly, colleges, universities and law enforcement overwhelmingly oppose such measures.

At some point, state lawmakers need to acknowledge that guns are deadly weapons and those who want to carry them need more extensive training, not less.

Offshore drilling

The democratic process isn’t perfect — witness the rise of blowhard Donald Trump in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

But sometimes democracy works just as it should to express the will of the people. Certainly that’s what occurred when the Obama administration decided to abandon plans to open the South Carolina coast to offshore drilling.

Over the past year, the people of coastal South Carolina have spoken nearly as one, through their elected town and county councils, against offshore drilling. Local jurisdictions from Hilton Head to North Myrtle Beach joined the campaign as they independently weighed the risks. Locally, the opposition ranged from Edisto Beach to McClellanville, with virtually every community, large and small, joining in. …

The campaign against offshore drilling was a wide-ranging, bipartisan effort.

What stands out most is the support given by local elected officials to a public opposing an industry-backed plan that appeared to have every chance of being rubber-stamped by the bureaucracy.

Let’s hear it for real representative government.

School takeovers

Now the legislature must help rescue Timmonsville schools. Thumbs up to the South Carolina Board of Education for finally declaring a state of emergency at two underperforming Florence School District Four schools, a move that allows S.C. Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman to take control of Brockington Elementary School and Johnson Middle School. This overdue step led to the ouster of Superintendent Andre Boyd, for whom we have a little sympathy. His mission of attracting top-notch teachers to a failing district was next to impossible.

If anyone wants to play the blame game, point the finger toward our legislature. It has failed to resolve issues that were raised in the Abbeville County School District v. State of South Carolina lawsuit, which was filed in 1993. More than a year ago, the S.C. Supreme Court ruled in favor of rural, poor school districts, saying that they deserved more equitable funding. We’re still waiting to see what plans the Senate and House come up to solve this problem.

Meanwhile, let us reiterate an opinion that we expressed weeks ago: We’re not calling for consolidation (yet), but conversations need to begin. Ultimately, perhaps five school districts in Florence County need to come together as one. But for now, how about five becoming four? How about Florence School District One consolidating with District Four? The children in Timmonsville deserve a better education than they have been getting. Standing by and allowing a district to fail should not be an option.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Editorials from across South Carolina: guns on campus, drilling off SC coast, school takeovers."