Past experiences show that when an armed assailant attempts to attack anyone, they gravitate towards a person that is unarmed and unable to defend themselves, therefore, areas that do not allow concealed carry are unsafe and will undoubtedly attract someone who wants to harm the defenseless. In light of recent school shootings, a portion of society, including state legislators have been discussing whether nor not to authorize students and faculty to carry their concealed weapons on college campuses. Most school shootings take place in gun-free zones. While sections of the community say that allowing students to carry guns would only worsen the situation, a considerable amount of citizens believe that giving students and faculty the ability to legally carry a concealed weapon on a campus would decrease campus violence phenomenally. Among this group of people is Ken Stanton, a man who was attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University amid the shooting who stated, "It is not a force field, but it just means that if something bad does happen, we can fight back, at Virginia Tech, no one had a chance.” Ken Stanton was friends with a man who got killed during this shooting, and subsequently started looking for college campuses that would allow open or concealed carry so he could feel more secure on campus. Students and personnel would not only feel safer, but if necessary, they could protect their fellow citizens if they were granted permission to carry their firearms. Just giving a teacher the right to carry a gun would increase the safety of students everywhere. If there had been a concealed carry permit holder present during the incident at Sandy Hook, nowhere near as many lives would have been lost. A man attending a... ... middle of paper ... ...ome have mace or taser, others even keep baseball bats in their cars. There are so many ways to protect one’s self from violence, but they are not all failsafe. Forbidding guns on campus is an unjust and senseless way to prevent campus violence due to the fact that only law abiding citizens abide by the law. Bibliography Burnett, David. “Decriminalize Self-Defense.” USA TODAY. 01 Mar. 2011: A.4. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06. Feb 2014. “Guns on Campus: Overview.” Guns on Campus: Overview. National Conference of State Legislators, Jan. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2014 Jones, Ashby. “Colorado Justices Back Handguns on Campus.” Wall Street Journal Online. 06 Mar. 2012: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 24 Feb. 2014 Palazzolo, Joe. “Push to Let College Students Carry Guns Picks Up Steam.” Wall Street Journal. 22 Sep. 2012: p. A.3. SIRS Issues Researched.Web. 24 Feb. 2014
Of all school shootings only 47 percent of them are on college campuses. The other 53 percent are in elementary through high school grade campuses. These numbers can be drastically cut back by allowing concealed and open carry on college campuses. Students should be allowed to open carry on campus because it increases the protection of both themselves and the public.
In “Stop Worrying About Guns in the Classroom. They’re Already here.” the author, Erik Gilbert, argues in favor of the law allowing the concealed carry of firearms in college campuses. Gilbert claims that it’s futile to be “worried by the prospect of having guns in [the] classroom” because he believes that even before the bill was passed, some students and faculty were already carrying firearms to campus (Gilbert). Furthermore, he insinuates that despite the presence of firearms, there were no incidents of student or faculty causing harm. To support his argument, the author provides incidents which have occurred over the last decade at his campus, such as accidental discharge of guns in dorms, firearms in student’s vehicles, and one faculty member who was discovered to be in possession of a gun in an on-campus facility. Considering these incidents and previous knowledge of “prevailing regional attitudes towards guns”, the author assumes that significant numbers of students, and possibly faculty, bring guns on campus regularly (Gilbert). As for those who are afraid due to the new law, he declares to them that firearm permit-holders are not dangerous by comparing the rate of their crimes to that of police officers. He also reasons that permit holders need to be at least 21 to qualify—claiming that the more mature students qualify—and have background checks performed.
Supporting Point Why should college campuses be any different? They contain the country’s future presidents, senators and judges. They are also one of the most vulnerable places because most colleges don’t allow firearms on campus. The most important factor is that many students don’t pay attention to their surroundings so they are put in dangerous situations and they should be able to defend themselves to a certain extent.
Concealed weapons on college campuses have been a debatable issue for a long time now. “Statistically, colleges and universities are relatively safe environments for students, faculty, and administrators”, but will concealed carry affect this (Kirszner and Mandell, 626)?Supporters argue that being able to carry a concealed weapon lowers the percentage of shooting or accidents and that it is simply constitutional to have the right to bear arms. On the other hand, non-supporters believe that this will affect the way of learning in school, and raise anxiety. While it is true that having a concealed weapon can make the person holding it feel safe, we should not allow it because it may bring more negative rather than positive things into the college campuses.
There's a problem in America. Children, defenseless are being shot one by one. They go to their school and the schools are a gun free zone. The shooters take advantage of it and take the children's lives. Teachers should be able to carry a handgun to protect their children. This is very important, to all teachers and students for their safety. Shooters wouldn't come in the school knowing that the teacher had a gun. Students would feel way safer. There would be a lot of safety that would go into this.there are a lot of facts that can help us make the decision.
... a high school student, I don’t take much stock in the safety codes and drills in place to keep students safe in the event of a shooting. I would feel much safer knowing my teacher has the ability to protect the class, rather than hide and lock the door. An educator is responsible for the students in their class. They are responsible for their education and their safety while the children are in their classroom. The safety of fifteen or more students would be much more easily secured by one person if that person was armed. Promoting teachers to arm themselves also prevents school shootings; criminals don’t attack a victim that can fight back. At least 60% of school attacks would be prevented with an armed faculty warning sign. School faculty members should be armed to secure the safety of the countries students, and in hand prevent the majority of potential shootings.
Secondly, some people believe guns should not be allowed on campus because they may go off by accident. True, a gun may go off by accident, but according to, Students for Concealed Carry, out of 150 college campuses that allow concealed carry, there have been only three accidental discharges (Common). Two of them were by staff and one by a student. All three of the accidental discharges resulted in non-life-threatening discharges in which no one was injured (Common). All three incidents could have been prevented through proper training and practice, such as wearing a
Alternatively, the people who believe that concealed weapons should be allowed in college campus state that they are are allowed to because of what the second amendment. The second amendment allows for any resident of the United States to be able to buy and own a concealed weapon of their choice. Students for Concealed Carry state the point that a person should be allowed to own a gun if they wish to be able to feel safe and protect themselves by stating, “Why should a 105-pound woman who is allowed the means to defend herself against a 250-pound would-be rapist outside of campus not be afforded the same right on campus” (647)? Other people also believe that having a gun would be able to deter the shooter. They believe the shooter would be stopped just by the thought of him going to a place filled with guns would trigger feat in their brain and make them rethink that they are about to do. “It’s hard to attain infamy if a concealed handgun license holder ends your shooting spree before it begins” (Students for Concealed Carry 647). The final point most people who are for concealed carry on campus is that they believe they would be able to stop the shooter faster or before he even begins the shoot...
Wouldn’t you feel a great sense of relief if you knew that your child was being protected at all cost while at school? Teachers carry a lot of weight on their shoulders just by walking into the classroom daily. This added level of security would not only protect our children but it also protects the teachers and other staff members as well. Teachers being allowed to carry handguns while in class should be a discussion that every parent should have.
College is seen as the beginning of young adult life, but campus crime can prevent the continuation of that life.Yet, campuses still prohibit students from carrying essential self defense weapons. This is most likely due to their ignorance of the benefits involved with allowing campus carry. Campus carry improves the overall environment of a college and promotes safety. Students should be allowed to carry guns on campus due to the current lack of protection offered through the university and an individual’s lawful right, despite the belief that it would cause an escalation in violent crime.
College campuses are more dangerous than ever because of the past decade; guns have not only been manufactured in excess, but availability and ease of accessibility. According to James Cool (2008), a supporter of guns on campus, reasoned why the increase of weapons occurred recently; “Our nation was founded … during the same time that modern firearms were invented and became readily available due to the Industr...
One reason teachers should not be able to carry guns because guns are currently illegal in schools; Guns are illegal because they are dangerous. The Gun Free School Zone Act (GFSZA) is a federal law that was accepted in the United States in 1990. According to the GFSZA, “It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.” In order for teachers to carry guns, we would have to discard this law. Also, the school board would have to create a new policy, allowing teachers to carry guns. Adjusting the rules would be time consuming and confusing. Changing the GFSZA would make students tense and distract children from learning. Citizens from CNN Politics say, “72.4% of educators said they would be unlikely to bring a firearm to school if allowed to do so.” This data shows that the majority of teachers do not even want possession of a gun in the classroom. School officers have the right to carry guns, teachers should just focus on education. Not only does it create a huge responsibility, there would also need to be a large financial investment to supply guns for every school. This money would be hard to come up with, and not everyone is in favor of sacrificing money for firearms.
Due to the recent disruption of violent crimes on campus, many citizens that are pro-gun activist have suggested that both the students and teachers should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on school campuses. Those who are with guns allowed on school campuses claim that their rights have been violated for the reason that many college campuses refuse to allow weapons of any kind on their property. The Constitution of The United States of America already grants citizens the right to carry guns with them. It is not appropriate for guns to be in a vulnerable area such as a college campus or any University. There are already too many guns available to the public or easy to get any kind of gun, and allowing them on
In the past years, several schools and college campuses have suffered many shooting attacks, killing innocent people who just want to become professional and finish their careers. Those shooters have been caused by other students that might have personal or mental problems that make them think that they can solve their problems by shooting and killing people. This is why many people are arguing about the second amendment, if guns should be allowed on college campuses. Some arguments are: students are going to be more secure and they will be able to defend themselves in case that someone starts shooting. However, there is also a large amount of people who believe that if guns are allowed on college campuses there would be an increase of
Allowing teachers to carry guns could help lower school shootings. “While some believe tighter gun controls are the answer, others believe the best solution comes in giving more people — like teachers and administrators — more training and more access to firearms that can save lives as well as take them away” (Evensen guns and teachers). “Our organization