The Second Amendment guarantees that an individual’s right to possess and bear arms will not be infringed upon, yet college campuses have denied their students’ right to carry a weapon for years. As of 2014, 22 states do not allow students to carry guns on campus and 22 leave the policy of guns on campus to the schools. The remaining 6 allow students to carry weapons, but not necessarily into school buildings. Only in Utah is a student’s right to concealed carry protected by state law. While the government, state or federal, may not be able to control a private institutions right to ban guns, on public school grounds, students should be allowed to legally carry weapons, as they are on almost any other public grounds. Not only is the right protected by the Second Amendment, allowing concealed carry on campuses would contribute to lower crime rates, rather than lead to more crime. The debate on college campuses’ gun policies mirrors that of the national level in that at the heart of both debates is the interpretation of the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment reads “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Some argue that the wording used is outdated and that the Second Amendment does not guarantee an individual’s right to bear arms—the Supreme Court disagrees. In the 2008 Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller, the Court concluded that the wording of the Second Amendment does in fact guarantee an individual’s right to possess and carry a weapon (Mauro). While the debate over the Second Amendmant is not over yet, with the Heller ruling, for now the right to bear arms is protected by the Constitution; me... ... middle of paper ... ...ses Are Safer Without Concealed Weapons." Gun Violence. Ed. Louise Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Why Our Campuses Are Safer Without Concealed Handguns." 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. "US College Student Demographics in 2012." MarketingCharts. N.p., 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. . Wallis, David. "Coming Home From War to Hit the Books." NY Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. . "Weapons prohibited in certain places - Local laws and ordinances - Exceptions - Penalty.." RCW 9.41.300:. Washington State Legislature, n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. .
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.
Doeden, Matt. Gun Control: Preventing Violence or Crushing Constitutional Rights? Minneapolis: Lerner, 2012. 7- 61-63. Print.
Why do schools NOT notify the police when a violent disturbance occurs? One would assume that when there is an assault or threat upon a student, the police would be the first people to be notified. When there is violence, or threats of violence against students in an academic setting, information about the threats and the troublesome student should be shared with the police. But Universities usually do not provide this information to the police. Lynn Daggett, a Professor at the Gonzaga University School of Law, states, “Schools struggle with whether, when, and how to involve police, both when students appear to present a threat to others, as in high profile cases, and also when the school suspects a student of criminal behavior” (Daggett). Although police are available and willing to be involved in school disturbances, schools do not involve the police more often than they should and cannot or will not give certain records about their students to the police.
Concealed weapons in college campus’s have been a big issue since the mass shootings in Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois Universities. Allowing for guns to be allowed in college campus’s would be a bad thing to do since it would create additional risks for students, even if weapons were allowed it wouldn’t deter the shooter, and it would detract from a healthy learning environment. So far there is only five states , Colorado, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin, that allow “concealed carry” at school campus.
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...
The United State of America, established by the Founding Father who lead the American Revolution, accomplished many hardship in order to construct what America is today. As history established America’s future, the suffering the United State encountered through history illustrate America’s ability to identify mistakes and make changes to prevent the predictable. The 2nd Amendment was written by the Founding Father who had their rights to bear arms revoked when they believe rising up to their government was appropriate. The Twentieth Century, American’s are divided on the 2nd Amendment rights, “The right to bear arms.” To understand why the Founding Father written this Amendment, investigating the histories and current measures may help the American people gain a better understanding of gun’s rights in today’s America.
The National Rifle Association (NRA), recognized today as a major political force and as America's foremost defender of the Second Amendment, “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a Free State the Right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The NRA adheres to the belief that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of individuals to bear arms. Recent U.S. Supreme Court cases have confirmed those beliefs. In spite of whether one personally adheres to these interpretations of the amendment or not, the fact is there are over two hundred million guns in this country. Moreover, there are over seventy-five million firearm owners. In addition to the NRA’s political activity for second amendment rights, it has fulfilled a service, as since its inception, it had been the premier firearms education organization in the world by providing firearms safety and training.
The Web. The Web. 5 June 2015. Flynn, Michael W. “Handgun Laws.” quickanddirtytips.com. 2008.
With many recent incidents that involve guns between 2012 and 2013, gun control laws have become a hot topic in America. On one hand, after the horrific incident like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting at Newtown in 2012, most people wanting to limit guns from getting into the wrong by setting up a rigorous system that control who can and cannot obtain a gun. On the other hand, we have the people who believe that with such rigorous system in place is violated the individual rights that granted and protected by the United States Constitution. They believe that the rigorous system will prevent people from defending themselves and could be a violation of their privacy. Regardless of which side is right, if we want to understand more about our current conflict, we have to look back on how this hold debate started. The District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court case in 2008 that found the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 unconstitutional, which influence the individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense by questioning the Second Amendment and laws that restrict a person from acquire guns.
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.
As violence and murder rates escalate in America so does the issue of gun control. The consequence of this tragedy births volatile political discourse about gun control and the Second Amendment. The crux of the question is what the founding fathers meant when they wrote, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Since the writing of the Second Amendment the make and model of firearms has changed dramatically and so has the philosophies of the people. A rifle is no longer defined as a single shot, muzzle-loading musket used to primarily protect families or solely for food. Should the weapons we use today be protected by an amendment written nearly 222 years ago? Should the second amendment be rewritten? Does the Second Amendment apply to individual citizens? These questions spark extensive debates in Washington D.C. regarding what the founding fathers intended the amendment to be. The answer to this question lies in the fact that despite hundreds of gun control articles having been written , still the gun control issue remains unresolved. History tells us gun control debates will be in a stalemate until our judicial system defines or rewrites the Second Amend. This paper will examine the history of the Second Amendment, and attempt to define the framers intent, gun control legislation and look at factors that affect Americans on this specific issue...
[2] Dowlut, Robert. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms in State Bills of Rights and Judicial
Professional champions of civil rights and civil liberties have been unwilling to defend the underlying principle of the right to arms. Even the conservative defense has been timid and often inept, tied less, one suspects, to abiding principle and more to the dynamics of contemporary Republican politics. Thus a right older than the Republic, one that the drafters of two constitutional amendments the Second and the Fourteenth intended to protect, and a right whose critical importance has been painfully revealed by twentieth-century history, is left undefended by the lawyers, writers, and scholars we routinely expect to defend other constitutional rights. Instead, the Second Amendment’s intellectual as well as political defense has been left in the unlikely hands of the National Rifle Association (NRA). And although the NRA deserves considerably better than the demonized reputation it has acquired, it should not be the sole or even principal voice in defense of a major constitutional provision.
Jacobs, James B., and Kimberly A. Potter. "Keeping Guns out of the ‘Wrong’ Hands: The Brady Law and the Limits of Regulation." The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 86.1 (1995): 93-120. Print.
College is an important stepping stone for millions of students around the world. The last thing these students want to think about is watching their backs as they walk to class. Parents should not have to worry about the safety of their children away at college. However, schools are turning into one-sided war zones. No student is allowed to carry a firearm on a university campus, yet young adults are being gunned down left and right.