The Student Govern-ment Association meeting this week ran through the night and into the next morning for the second consecutive week.

SGA heard more appeals from Chartered Student Organizations, tidied up its constitution and engaged in a more than three-hour debate about chartering a gun education club.

The club, formerly known as the Gun Awareness and Marksmanship Education Club, went before the Senate Wednesday, April 23, in hopes of being chartered. Before the charter was voted on, the group changed its name to the Gun Safety and Education Club. Despite the group’s new name, the senators debated the issue intensely.

G.S.E.C. is political but non-partisan, said President and Co-founder Tom Applewhite. It is not affiliated with the National Rifle Association, he said, though the organizations share some of the same goals. Applewhite said G.S.E.C.’s primary goal is to educate and inform people about guns-which he feels have many misconceptions attached to them-and to spread its support of the Second Amendment.

“Just because people disagree with a student organization doesn’t mean it shouldn’t exist,” Applewhite said.

The club said it wanted to be chartered and receive funding so it could hold meetings on campus and have activities like safety training and speakers.

Applewhite said one specific event the group hoped to host was a dinner to raise awareness and funds for victims of gun violence.

One of the biggest issues during the debate was whether or not G.S.E.C. interferes with the Jesuit Mission. Lisa Reiter, director of Campus Ministry and former law enforcement officer, went before the Senate to argue against its chartering.

In her experience, she said, when one learns to fire a gun, they are being trained to kill.

The Rev. James Veltrie, S.J., offered his opinion as well, adding that Archbishop Raymond Burke is against guns. Furthermore, he said he does not think it would be appropriate for SLU to charter a gun club after an assortment of violent acts such as the shooting at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007.

Applewhite said the group existed before the shooting, and went on to say that “just because [G.S.E.C.] exists doesn’t mean [a shooting like the one at] Virginia Tech will happen [at SLU].”

The issue of safety was also of great importance to the senators. Applewhite said the club will never attempt to bring guns on campus, legally or otherwise, nor would it help members purchase firearms. He said safety training is fundamental to the group and that members have to go through a training course in order to participate in any of the group’s activities.

Despite these assurances, Financial Vice President John Curry did not think SGA could “adequately” enforce the club’s charter. Under SGA’s current structure, there is no formal system for ensuring that G.S.E.C. is following its charter and would rely on the club’s self-monitoring as a means of detecting violations.

In the end, the Senate decided through a roll call vote not to charter G.S.E.C.

Other matters on the agenda included budget and spot-funding requests.

The National Society of Collegiate Scholars received a total of $1,278.

The Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Team received a total of $2,113.30 to pay for Regionals.

The Men’s Ultimate Frisbee Team appealed for $8,902 but received $7,200 for next year.

Aero Design Team of Automotive Engineers appealed for $8,845 and received $7,320 for next year.

Asian Students in Action appealed for $2,140 but received $1,365.

Filipino Student Association appealed for $12,031.43 but received $9,147.43.

Knights of Columbus appealed for $1,106.71 received $2,043.87.

The Political Science Club appealed for $2,445.46 but received $1,340.

The Roller Hockey team appealed for $8,740 but received $3,725.

The Rowing Club appealed for and received $9,700.

The SGA postponed a bill about their own budget allocation until next week’s meeting on Wednesday, April 30.