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Should concealed handguns be allowed on college campuses
Essays on allowing concealed weapons on school campus
Essays on allowing concealed weapons on school campus
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On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded 17 others in a mass shooting at Virginia Tech. It was the worst mass murder on a college campus in American history, and it sparked a debate on whether or not students should be allowed to carry guns on college campuses. Some feel that arming students will make campuses safer, while others claim that students carrying weapons will do no good, and may actually have a negative effect on campus safety. While the idea of arming students is understandable, it is not a good idea for students to carry weapons on college campuses.
Having guns on campus is a dangerous proposal. First, students lives are at risk. Someone could shoot a gun at any time and it could hit another student, injuring or even killing them. Secondly, research shows that carriage of concealed weapons does not curb crime. In fact, the crime rate increased in Colorado and Utah. Rape went up 11% in Colorado and 50% in Utah. There were also many cases of accidental shootings. Finally, the weapons can be a huge distraction to the educational environment. It is difficult for
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One reason is people think that carrying concealed weapons will make campuses safer. Campuses are the number one place that is targeted by shooters, so having a weapon on hand would protect you. Secondly, students should be able to carry around guns to defend themselves. The heart of Campus Safety Act would allow Georgians who have a Georgia Weapons Carry License to carry their concealed weapons on public campuses to defend themselves from criminals. There are only certain people who can follow this law though. You have to be 21 or older, be fingerprinted, pass federal background checks, and be reviewed by their county Probate court judge. According to the Washington Times, since 2007, because the number of concealed handguns has gone up, the murder rate has gone
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.
People who disagree with me think that there should be concealed gun carry on college campuses because it will make the students safer in a risky situation by making the students able to shoot down and stop the shooter. 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).
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
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.
My recently divorced History professor seemed to be in an extremely foul mood one dreary Monday morning. Every move and comment the class made seemed to irritate him more and more. Everyone in the room stopped moving and talking in concern for him, everyone except Josh, who is our class clown. He made the decision to make a comment to our teacher that any other day would have broken the ice and class would have resumed. For some reason, on this particular day it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. My professor looked up from the floor and in a matter of seconds had removed a gun provided to him by the school for protection, from under his jacket, and then shot Josh before anyone could do anything to stop him. Although, this is a story of fiction and never really happened, it could become a headline on the six o’clock news if David McGrath gets his way. He is the author of an article that supports teachers being given loaded weapons for protection in the classroom. To me providing teachers with weapons is a drastic move because the epidemic of school shootings is not as big as McGrath makes it out to be and there are many more sensible solutions that have yet to be explored.
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.
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.
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.
Khubchandani is a professor at Ball State University, which conducted a survey among the students at the University. He emphasizes, “However, the majority of women said there were more disadvantages to carrying handguns on campus. These were women who did not own firearms and did not have a firearm in the home growing up”(Most College Students). He says that utmost women do not want firearms on campus because they don’t see advantages from having concealed weapons on campus. But, he also states that this is the case because they have not been exposed in an environment with guns. Therefore people are only at a disadvantage if they don’t seek any information about gun assurance including a permit and gun
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.
Those who are in support of gun control laws tend to believe that the 2nd Amendment wasn’t exactly made for current times, which is true. The 2nd Amendment was created during a time when we didn’t have an official armed force or forces protecting us. The United States today has one of the world’s largest militaries as well as a sizeable police force. So as of today, the need to own guns could be seen as miniscule. The approach to this problem is as mentioned, gun control laws. Gun control laws would help prevent more deaths from occurring every year. Between the years of 1999 - 2013 there were 464,033 gun related deaths(CDC 4). Of those deaths, 174,773 were homicides which is 66.6% of all homicides. You then look at the numbers for which guns were used in self defense and see that the numbers are very low. “Of the 29,618,300 violent crimes committed between the years of 2007-2011, only .79% used a gun in self defense”. Based on this statistic alone, guns are far less likely to be used than other non-lethal means. Additionally, you have to ask the question, are college students capable of owning and handling a gun? In the 2nd paragraph, I discussed how gun control laws wouldn’t be effective in preventing crime; however on a college campus were young adults are developing who they will be, perhaps the laws would be necessary. As most know, college is fun, but is or can be very stressful. In a high stress environment, people can snap or have a bout of anger. In our anger, there is no telling what could happen, especially if we were in possession of a firearm. In this case, not having gun control laws could be more of a risk on college campuses. Today, in light of the recent elections, you can also see that a lot of college students don’t seem to be very mentally mature. To be able to handle a firearm, most agree you would need
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