A tradition at the University of Virginia has ended because the university wants to avoid “panic” and trauma to students because of gun violence in America. The 21-gun salute has been a tradition at the end of Veterans Day ceremonies on campus for a decade, but the president decided students would think there was a shooting at the school if they heard the gunshots:

“One is that it would be disruptive to classes and two unfortunately with gun violence in the U.S., there was some concern that we would cause a panic if someone heard gunshots on grounds,” Jim Ryan, the college’s president, told NBC29.

This might not be the end of the 21-gun salute because there are former ROTC who are planning to protest:

Veteran Jay Levine, a former member of UVA’s ROTC program, is planning to protest the school’s decision: “I am very disillusioned, very upset, and very surprised that they would make such a decision.”

Levin plans to continue his protest with more voices because:

“Freedom isn’t free. There’s a cost and that cost is born by the veterans and the families of those veterans.”

WVIR NBC29 Charlottesville News, Sports, and Weather

Do you think this was the right move by the UVA President Jim Ryan?

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