ADAM WINKLER ON GUNS ON CAMPUS: “As a professor, I’d feel safer if guns were not permitted on campus. I worry more about being the target of a student upset about failing grades than about a mass killer roaming the hallways. But there is little evidence to support my gut feeling.”

And I think he’s right that much of this is about symbolism: “Exposure can breed tolerance. Arguably, that is exactly what’s behind the growing acceptance of gays and lesbians. The visibility of gay couples in society and popular culture has led many Americans to realize that homosexuality is not wrong. Gun advocates are betting the same can happen with firearms.”

In fact, the gun-ban campaign of a few decades ago was all about stigmatizing and denormalizing gun ownership and gun owners.