Shock as Western Sydney University SRC President calls for guns on campus

The President of the Student Representative Council at Western Sydney University has raised eyebrows and made headlines this week after calling for students to be permitted to carry guns on campus to help address safety concerns.

Daniel Bonatti, president of the SRC, raised a motion at the last council meeting for the University to support the right of students to bear arms, regardless of the fact legislative changes that would be required have nothing to do with the University.

Bonatti pointed to the current American situation and claimed that rooms being made available for religious, LGBTQ and other minority groups made them a ‘front line’ target for attack.

“Mass shootings in educational institutions and Universities in the USA are a daily occurrence," Bonatti said.

"With SRC having collectives and equity groups, the rooms provided for women, Christians and Muslims, queers and the Indigenous are the frontline of being targeted. Students need to have a right to keep and bear arms for self-defence… I move that: The Student Representative Council (SRC) of Western Sydney University in principle supports the right to keep and bear arms.”

Though the motion was unanimously voted down, the SRC Vice President said that Bonatti’s heart was in the right place as he addressed recent concerns about lacking student safety at the University’s Bankstown campus, a claim that has been refuted.

“He was trying to bring some attention to the lack of security to the Bankstown welfare spaces as well as LGBT+ safe spaces. I personally disagree 100 per cent with the way he decided to go with it,” said Vice President Bayan Sohailee.

The University has offered their own response to the issue.

“Western Sydney University takes the safety of our students and staff seriously. All our campuses are patrolled by security around the clock, including our Bankstown City campus,” they told Newscorp.

“The Student Representative Council has not raised any security concerns with the University about student safety at the Bankstown City campus. The University welcomes the opportunity to engage and address any concerns they may have.

“Prayer rooms, LGBTIQ+ spaces and other facilities ensure students from a range of backgrounds belong and are safe here at the University. Our western Sydney community is diverse, and the University takes great pride in reflecting and safeguarding that diversity.”

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