Seung-Hui Cho, a twenty three year old performed the deadliest mass shooting on the Virginia Tech campus and State University campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, and then he took his own life. He killed 32 people. The point of students not having a concealed firearm on campus is to protect other students and faculty. Being safe and not in danger can be solved in many ways. Police officers, family, and people with high authorities are around to protect people but not all the time. Students should be prohibited from carrying concealed firearms on college campuses because it causes violence, it could be in the hands of a crazy person, and concealed carry permit holders are not required to have law enforcement training.
Students should not be allowed
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For example, if someone is suicidal they could end up killing or causing harm to himself if they have access to a gun. In the article, “Why our Campuses are Safer without Concealed Handguns” (SGFS), argues “One study found that 24% of college students had thought about attempting suicide and 5% had actually attempted to kill themselves. Suicide attempts are successful more than 90% of the time when a firearm is used” (2). The text explains, the argument the suicidal rates are high and are very effective when in the hands of an unstable person. A gun is a tool for them to harm themselves with and can lead to the loss of a loved …show more content…
People do not always hit their target as a matter of fact they hit their targets under 50% of the time. An example is, if someone is using self defense and goes to shoot the person and misses they could hit someone else causing more problems. In the article, “Why our Campuses are Safer without Concealed Handguns” (SGFS), it argues that “The New York City Police Department officers found that they hit their targets approximately 20% of the time. That year, their officers intentionally fired a gun at a person 364 times, hitting their target only 103 times- a success rate of 28.3%. ‘Factoring all these elements into it. The adrenaline flow, the movement of the target, the movement of the shooter, the officer, the lighting conditions, the weather...i think it is a high rate when you consider all of the variables…’ ” This explains that not even police officers hit their targets all the time. People are always missing their targets causing harm to other people. Having a permit and training would be helpful and would make peoples success rate go up. If society is going to carry and fire guns then they need to know everything about how to use one. Most students do not know how to use a gun or even hold one
This means that students having guns on campus won’t make any impact on the number of suicides in college students. Guns would not be a distraction in class because concealed carry means that it would be out of sight out of mind resulting in no one even knowing that it is there. If we waited to rely on police officers so many more people would have died. There can only be so many police officers. Citizens have to take a training class to receive their concealed handgun license. A background check is ran and they are just as capable of protecting the public as a police officer or other trained individual. The argument about a Taser is bad advice because a Taser has to be used in close quarters and in most cases a person would be shot before being close enough to the gun shooter to tase them. “The answer to bullets flying is almost always more bullets flying. That’s why the police bring so many guns with them when they respond to a report of ‘shots fired’” (Common Arguments). How else do we expect police to respond? If police didn’t carry guns and respond with gunfire to take out active shooters then they would run the risk of being shot and dying. It is insane to believe that answering shooting with anything less than guns is reasonable. There has never been a case that police have encountered a situations that they have had to try to figure out
Thesis Statement: Firearms should be allowed on college campuses because it would give students and faculty a way to defend themselves if an attacker such as Cho tried to injure or kill them.
May-issue means citizens can carry when allowed (8 Significant Pros and Cons of Concealed Carry).
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.
Policies were put on campuses to make the environment, classes, and buildings safe and healthy. If people are allowed to walk around with a concealed weapon, the whole atmosphere will be disrupted. Not only would it distract from classes, but like and article “Why Our Campuses Are Safer without Concealed Handguns” written by Students For Gun-Free Schools says “The introduction of handguns on our campuses would inhibit dialogue by creating fear of possible retaliation” (635). This means that not only will the learning of a students be affected, but dialogue between each other as
“Carrying a concealed handgun in public is permitted in all 50 states as of 2013. Some states have “unrestricted carry” and do not require permits” (ProCon.org 1). Law abiding citizens can apply for a “concealed carry permit” if they have no record of mental illness and no criminal record. The permit allows them to carry handguns not only at home, but almost everywhere they go. More women are buying handguns than ever before and going through the training to get a license to carry(The Economist 1). Before, you had to prove you had a need to get such a permit. In 1989 the National Rifle Association (NRA) started a nationwide campaign to get laws passed that made it legal for law abiding citizens to carry a concealed handgun. Their argument was that criminals who knew that their victims were armed would be less likely to attack (New York Times 1).
Why would a student feel the need to carry a concealed weapon on campus? After all they’re headed to a “school” not a war zone. Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin are the only states that allow concealed weapons on campus. Arizona and other states let schools decide the policy on weapons. Many states prohibited concealed weapons on campus which is the right choice. Most colleges who allow their students to carry concealed weapons increase the chances of violence on campus. College students must be unable to carry concealed weapons on
Concealed carry; should we promote or discourage it? Many who are not supportive of the law, do not understand the pros that come from the ability to carry a concealed handgun. They overlook all the good that comes from the law, they seem to dwell on the very few cons, and do not wish to consider the great pros that can and often do come from the concealed carry law. Guns, though scary to some, provide those who carry with a sense of protection, as one must take into consideration the good that the law does for the people of America, and the power that is granted while carrying a gun.
Although legalizing concealed handguns create an easy access to firearms by criminals and emotionally disturbed people, it is less likely that these individuals will use their weapons if they feel their target is armed as well. Allowing citizens to carry would always cause the question of ‘who is carrying?’ to arise in the criminals’ minds. According to economist and political commentator John Lott, had the states that did not have concealed handgun laws in 1992 actually allowed concealed carry, the murders would be reduced by “1,839; rapes by 3,727; aggravated assaults by 10,990; robberies by 61,064; burglaries by 112,665; larcenies by 93,274; and auto thefts by 41,512,” (Lott 58). Simply by allowing individuals the right to carry concealed weapons cuts major crime rates dramatically. When criminals are aware that their potential victims could also be armed, they are less likely to act on their violence for fear of the assault turning against them. Whereas, if concealed carry was illegal, criminals would know that their target would most likely not be carrying, thus making these individuals more likely to act on violent
Firearm owners can be criticized due to constant misunderstandings for owning guns. Many Americans may see firearm owners as someone who can hurt and kill people. As a firearm seen as an object that may cause harm to an individual, people feel terrorized when living next to an owner of of a gun. Citizens of the United States believe the cause of many violent deaths throughout the country are because of gun ownerships eligibility to all citizens and no guarantee of complete safe responsibility of the individual. People fear the lack of safety precautions and little knowledge of owning a gun will create an occurrence of accidents. People believe troops and law enforcement are the only ones to be in charge of a gun because they
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...
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.
This is caused because the more guns there, are the less violence there is. Dangerous criminals will think twice about robbing someone that has a gun. A victim with a gun is no longer a victim because they can not fight back against the attacker. Therefore, they can save their lives and save lives of the public which need help at that moment. Lott states, “The estimated annual gain from 1992 from allowing concealed handguns was over $5.74 billion” (House Report). This states that when a decline in violence goes down the amount of money goes up. Concealed guns can only benefit everyone in multiple ways. Concealed weapons can help create the feeling of safety and reduce violence. No one wants to live in
With increasing tensions amount Students about what they would do in case of a campus shooting many would like to be able to carry concealed weapons giving way to greater peace of mind. "Other students say being able to have a gun could prevent assaults and robberies on campus, and keep students safer if a
According to a February 2008 article, “Woman kills 2 students in Louisiana College classroom, takes own life,” published by Fox News, A 23 year old woman at the Louisiana Technical College, open fired with a .357 revolver killing two fellow students, and Taking officers approximately four minutes to respond to the first 911 call(n.p.). If this college had an open gun carry law in placed this shooting could have been prevented because this woman could