There is a saying that says, “Why fix something that isn’t broke?” In other words, if something is doing good the way it is already then don’t change it. The same applies with concealed gun carry on college campuses. If college campuses have been statistically proven to be one of the safest public places, then why try to fix them by bringing concealed guns into campuses. I believe that there should not be concealed handguns allowed in college campuses because it will make students more unsafe, would make the learning environment in class a very unhealthy experience, and cause trouble for the campus police to spot a real shooter. People who disagree with me think that there should be concealed gun carry in college campuses because it will make Students for Concealed Carry, an organization for concealed gun carry on campus, say, “The crux of the SGFS essay is the undeniable fact that college campuses typically have lower crime rates than the cities in which they reside” (642). In “Why Our Campuses Are Safer Without Concealed Handguns”, an article against concealed handgun carry, states that, “Our colleges and universities are safe sanctuaries for learning…” (633). They both have the same point of If there is a shooter inside the school campus then students will take out their guns too and start shooting at the target. Then when the campus police go to the scene they will not know who the real target is. Cops are trained to take out whoever may be a danger to someone else or to them. If they don’t know who the real target is then there will be many mistaken shots by the cops. According to “Why Our Campuses Are Safer Without Concealed Handguns”, “The campus police said that the probability would have been high that anyone emerging from a classroom at Norris Hall holding a gun would have been shot”
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.
Michael Eisinger an eighth grade science teacher says, "If a gunman is going to cause violence in a school, they are going to have the element of surprise," "My guess is that they would still be able to shoot teachers, students or whoever else they wanted before some sort of coherent response materialized. (Huffington Post) Arming teachers isn’t going to solve the problem. We still will end up with deaths in schools. The gunman may decide to take the professors gun as well, which will result in the enemy having another harmful weapon.
While the opposing team fears that this law may bring more deaths, and will not solve any issues but create new ones, it will also make campuses an unsafe place for students and faculty. The majority of the students who attend universities or in general do not have a license to carry a weapon, but that still does not stop how unsafe people feel in classrooms, or in their dorms. In my opinion, I am someone who opposes the campus carry law. I believe that weapons bring nothing but danger and fear, and many other students and professors feel the same way.
One of those ways is accidental shooting. Guns on campus may lead to accidental shootings. Not every student is a professional gun handler who knows how to use a gun. Accidental shootings are very common because people lack the basic gun training. “The potential for accidental discharge or misuse of firearms at on-campus or off-campus parties where large numbers of students are gathered or at student gatherings where alcohol or drugs are being consumed, as well as the potential for guns to be used as a means to settle disputes between or among students. There is also a real concern that campus police officers responding to a situation involving an active shooter may not be
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
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.
Colleges desire a crime free environment, however, the fact is, many campuses already have several violent crimes that occur on a regular basis. Crime in schools and colleges is “one of the most troublesome social problems in the Nation today” (“Crime in Schools and Colleges.”). Crime is already an occurring issue because little to no changes have been made to discourage criminal activity. Seen as an ever growing issue, college crime could easily lessen if changes occurred. Criminal activity will lessen if a campus carry were enacted. Permitting gun carry will allow for a positive change, because criminals will be aware of the fact that students may possess weapons. Since 2012, more than 150 colleges in the United States have allowed concealed carry, and “not one of these campuses has seen a single resulting act of violence (including threats) or a single resulting suicide attempt” (“Common Arguments Against Campus Carry.”). This proves permitting guns will allow for a safer, more productive campus. Violence will not drastically increase if campus carry is enacted; the opposite effect will occur. If students who possess their concealed carry licenses are already allowed to carry guns into certain businesses and areas, what difference will it make to continue that carry onto a college campus. If a student wanted to commit violent acts, they could already commit them off campus property. Campus carry promotes safety, and helps diminish criminal
Guns should be banned from all college campuses nationwide. Many students, teachers, and college presidents strongly oppose hidden, loaded guns on campuses because it will lead to increased violence, accidental shootings, and the non-carrying public would feel unsafe around the carrying public. If all elementary to high schools have a strict ban on guns for their campuses, it seems logical to extend the ban up to higher education. Now that it is more common for students in high school to take dual classes on a college campus, extending would ensure safety of the minors. Guns have a purpose at other arenas, but on a campus that is intended for learning and education it would be best to keep
School shootings have altered American history greatly over the past two decades. From 1997 to 2007, there have been more than 40 school shootings, resulting in over 70 deaths and many more injuries. School shoot-outs have been increasing in number dramatically in the past 20 years. There are no boundaries as to how old the child would be, or how many people they may kill or injure. At Mount Morris Township, Michigan, on February 29th, 2000, there was a 6 year old boy who shot and killed another 6 year old girl at the Buell Elementary School with a .32 caliber pistol. And although many shootings have occurred at High Schools or Middle Schools, having more guns on those campuses would not be a good environment for children to grow up in. However, on a college campus, the pupils attending are not children anymore; the age range is from 17 to mid 20’s. Therefore they understand the consequences associated to the use of weapons and have gained more maturity. In April 16th, 2007, at Blacksburg, Virginia, there was a shooting rampage enacted by Sung-Hui Cho (23 years, from Centreville, VA) who fired over 170 rounds, killing 32 victims, before taking his own life at the Virginia Tech campus. Colleges and Universities would be a much safer place, for student and teacher, if guns were permitted on campus for self-defense purposes.
Although most security measures passively make schools safer, it is not nearly enough to prevent an individual who intends on creating mass violence from completing his or her task. State representatives, national organizations, school staff, and parents need to come together to figure out the most reliable ways to prevent an active shooter situation from occurring in their schools. One solution that has been active is many schools have partnered with local law enforcement agencies to provide a police officers to patrol school grounds....
Waiting for a police officer to arrive during a home invasion is a dreadful position to be in, even more so without a weapon. These type of situations are the pivotal moments in life where perspective is likely to broaden. As stated earlier, there are very little Concealed Gun Carriers involved in crimes which leads us to believe that criminals do not bother with registering for a gun. So what is the Campus-Carry law really doing to our society? It is enabling our fellow peers to defend themselves against the disobeyers of the law! Anti-gun activists hide behind their protest by saying that there are “few—if any—clear examples of mass shootings thwarted by armed students or faculty members.” While this may hold the slightest of merit to it, it is because Campus-Carry is merely a recent adaptation, at least in Texas. Even so, it does not excuse taking the right away of millions of Americans to protect their beloved ones. Whether armed students or faculty stand to make a difference in the moment of a terrorist attack, is not completely clear, but it helps to give people the option to defend themselves in the case of an
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.
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
The truth is, concealed weapons do not bring destruction, but they seem to bring just the opposite to the cities and schools that allow them. Burnett (2011) reports that, on college campuses, there are nine sexaul assaults reported each day, and there are even more cases that never get reported because the victims are too afraid or do not believe it will get anything accomplished. Today’s policies give these victims the option of hiding or playing dead, they do nothing to actually prevent such crimes. Even though there is only a small population of college students being victimized in this way it does not mean they should not be protected from such miscreant people because everyone deserves protection. In all honesty, nine rape cases reported daily is way too high and campuses should be working hard to prevent this from happening to any more students. The only policies campus officials have introduced to stop campus crimes are reactionary measures, they merely alert the students, but do not prepare them. The text system is ineffective, police are usually spread out to thinly, and cameras only capture feed for the news (Burnett, 2011). None of the safety measures that have been implemented so far have done any good, and until college campuses are able to offer effective measures of security they need to allow students to carry concealed
Even when people call the police, it takes time for the police to come and shooting does not take that much time to kill people. To solve this problem, I think the campus safety should carry guns. Also, teachers may have a right to have guns, too. When the shooter comes into the classroom, the teachers are the only adults that can protect the students. To protect children, they all have to be trained how to use the gun.