Concealed Fireamrs on Campus Essay

In the first article, “The University should allow concealed carry,” by Andrew Parks, statistics are used to support his argument on allowing concealed carry at The University of Alabama. Parks includes the rarity of a shooting in Texas, his home state. He claims, “ The last time such a shooting took place in the general public was on Oct. 16, 1991” (Parks). The reason for the rarity of a shooting in Texas is due to the gun laws not being as strict as most states. Parks believes what many other Americans believe, that allowing citizens to carry firearms is a deterrent to crime and shootings. The following statistics prove Parks’ belief that conceal carry reduces

Concealed carry and college campuses are two major topics currently in the media, yet these two topics are rarely used in unison, until now. The topic of whether or not concealed carry should be allowed on college campuses is a now mainstream debate with multiple views and numerous differentiating opinions. Many of the general public question if campus police is capable enough to protect a university’s enormous student body? Another commonly discussed issue is if concealed handguns actually do deter crime, and if they are capable of aiding in stopping a mass shooting spree? Or if guns on campus, carried by fellow classmates would make students as a whole feel more cautious or on the opposing hand make students feel more secure with guns carried on campus? If guns are allowed on campus, how will this affect a growing student’s ideology? These questions and many more are highly spoken of in our social media based generation, the answers to these questions help to improve our knowledge on this debate of concealed carry on college campuses, which will lead us to form our own individual opinions on this debate topic based on the facts and evidence presented.

If college campuses legalize the right to obtain a concealed weapon there could a risk of escalation in violence on college campuses. Allowing college students to carry a concealed weapon on campus makes for many opportunities of potential misuse of the weapon. According to the Journal of American College Health, most college students don't have experience shooting or holding a gun, therefore, they could make a mistake and unintentionally harm somebody or even themselves. Granting college students access to guns will pose increased risks of incidents of self-injury, accidental shootings and even murders. The University of Louisiana system shows that evidence also indicates that the presence of concealed weapons on campus would increase the likelihood of

Concealed guns on campus is a major topic floating around right now. Many people believe that it would be beneficial to carry guns on campus. Some believe people should have the right to protect themselves if there is a potential attack. It is a right to own a gun and to carry it, if you have the right qualifications. If you can carry a gun anywhere else it makes sense that you should be able to carry it on campus. A few years ago it was brought to attention about people being able to carry guns on campus. At first it seemed like a long shot but now the argument has gained attention and people have changed their views on the issue to agreeing that it would be good to be able to have a concealed gun on campus.

Is campus carry truly effective in decreasing gun violence on campus? Or does it, instead, pose a threat to students and faculty? The campus carry law refers to the policies that allow appropriately licensed students and faculty to carry a handgun on campus as long as the gun is hidden from sight. Several states, including Texas, have passed concealed carry; as a result, polarizing debates have ensued over the effectiveness of the law. Shootings have been occurring at institutions of higher education since the early 20th century (Cobb 35). The first incident of campus shooting occurred at the University of Texas in 1966, by a student named Charles Whitman. Since then, there has been several other university shootings, and they have become more frequent within the last two decades. As a result of this, as well as other shooting incidents such as, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Oregon Mall, and Aurora movie theater, in recent years, the debate over allowing concealed carry on campus has gained a lot of momentum with very conflicting opinions. Proponents of concealed carry consider it to be the best answer to decrease the injuries and casualties of a gun related incident, while opponents consider allowing firearms on campus a threat to the safety of campus constituents. Agreeing with opponents of campus carry, I believe by allowing the concealed carry of firearms on campus, we are potentially compromising the safety of students and faculty, thus universities should push for

This issue of campus carry has been around for a long while, because some people believe that guns ensure safety and others believe they bring danger. While on one side, there are pro-gun activists who want to see the college community safe from crime, on the other side stand the peace activists who want to prevent violence on campus caused by guns. The controversy has been brought into the light of the media recently with UT Austin’s legalization of concealed handguns on campus.

Gun ownership is on the rise and even college students want firearms now. Since 1999 college students owning firearms for protection has increased over 19 percent (DiMauro 17). With this rise whether or not these numbers should increase has become a heated issue. As of now 26 colleges allow concealed carry on campuses, totaling in over 70 campuses(Burnett) and many others are in consideration. Organizations such as Students for Concealed Carry are at work to educate the public on the truths of how on campus carry would to some degree benefit college students, professors, and all visitors. Firearms can be and should be allowed on college campuses primarily because it is a not only a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution but also

About 4,400 colleges and universities in the United States forbid the carrying of guns on their campuses (“Colleges”). With more and more shootings on campuses, especially with the tragedy at Virginia Tech in 2006, the states are starting to rethink their position on whether guns should be allowed on campuses; especially in Texas, where Texans are known for their guns. Even with a state like that, however, the questions still remain: Will allowing students with guns make campuses a safer environment? Will it make students feel safer? As most controversial issues goes, there are two sides to the debate.

Although eight states have passed provisions allowing concealed weapons on public campuses and several other states allow campuses to decide if they are allowed, instead colleges should take a holistic view and approach to provide a robust security program, safety training, communication network and guidance on behavior awareness for faculty and students. As States continue to pass campus carry laws the colleges continue to funnel the majority of their focus dedicated to passing the law. This has eroded and overshadowed the end result, which is to protect students and faculty. Campuses should not allow students to carry guns on campus. By providing this false sense of security it dilutes the opportunity to implement tools, train and provide strategies to improve campus safety.

In the United States of America, there is a rising epidemic happening and its gun violence and the violence will not only rise, but triple if guns are permitted on college campuses and inevitably cause a ripple of issues. With several campus shootings, the most fatal being in 2007, the shooting that occurred at Virginia Tech University, a number of states are pushing harder to consider legislation about whether or not to permit concealed guns on college campuses and to obliterate the existing firearm regulations. This is not Colleges and Universities purpose; they’re for learning and experiences and amongst other things, not about guns. Students and faculty should not be allowed to carry firearms onto college campuses, firearms are illegal on most campuses, and that is how it should remain. In 2015, the number of colleges and universities in the United

Students walk college campuses thinking of homework, friends, social happenings, but rarely thinking about their safety. Students on college campuses are defenseless against an armed assailant because an armed assailant can shoot and harm many students in a short time before the police arrive. There are opposing views about allowing concealed weapons on college campuses, and the debate has been making news lately with the number of school shootings and people getting killed and injured rising. According to Robert Birnbaum in The Magazine of Higher Learning, “More Guns advocates argue that college students and faculty should be able to carry weapons for their own protection, particularly since history has shown that colleges can’t protect them from assailants” (Birnbaum 7). For students to properly defend themselves against armed assailants, they should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus.

The college campus in United State should prohibit carrying concealed guns for students’ safety. Because people rarely arm themselves for deter criminals, the responsibility should be left to official police rather than normal citizen. In addition, carrying concealed gun not only cause fear among non carrying population, but also cause higher risk of being killed or injury since criminals can legally holding concealed guns. So until the government published a more deliberate and suitable policy, the government should rethink about the consequence of permitting concealed guns, and have reaction towards the potential threat. For now, we’d better prohibit concealed guns on campus for students’ self security

With the recent history of gun violence on college campuses, questions have been raised on how incidents like these can best be prevented. One proposed solution is allowing firearms to be carried on campuses. With many states passing the open carry law, the topic of guns on campus has become a major issue; however, there are many reasons to why allowing guns to be carried on campus would not help prevent situations like these. A college campus is a place where individuals of different maturity levels come to learn and develop. Research has shown that college students are not fully developed in regards to impulse and judgment, so allowing a student to be able to carry a gun would not be a logical choice. In addition, allowing guns on campus could lead to an increase in reckless shooting incidents, an increase in gun related crimes, and add to the difficulty to law enforcement personnel. A college campus needs to be a safe place for all. To ensure the safest environment for college students, guns should not be able to be carried on campus with the exception to law enforcement.

Colleges should not be allowed to take away your personal protection unless they can provide a truly safe environment for students. Sadly, most campuses can’t guarantee that assaults won’t occur, so people must be allowed to arm themselves for protection. While some schools have security or law enforcement, rarely can they reach the scene of an assault fast enough to prevent it. If the victim or a bystander has a self-defense weapon, there is a much greater possibility of stopping the attack. Attackers also avoid areas that allow firearms, and knowingly target places that don’t allow them. On October 9th, the Crime Prevention Research Center released a revised report showing that 92% of mass public shootings between January 2009 and July 2014 took place in gun-free zones. If college campuses nationwide reflected on the findings of this report, it would become apparent that allowing concealed weapons on campuses would significantly lower the odds of attacks occurring. Campuses that allow conceal carry are utilizing one of the biggest measures to deter assaults. According to John R. Lott Jr., PhD, "when states passed concealed carry laws during the years we studied (1997-2005), the number of multiple-victim campus shootings declined by 84%. Deaths from these shootings plummeted on average by 90%, injuries by 82%.

The recent state legislation and the rulings in courts, eight states allow students to carry concealed weapons on postsecondary campuses, with Texas being one. The question exists, am I for or against campus carry? Due to the experiences of my previous military career, as a former marine, I understand some may think my views are myopic because of that part of my life. However, I will also focus on past and recent active shooter incidents that initiated the argument on methods for future prevention. In addition to exploring the counter argument against campus carry, I will also present my rebuttal of those arguments. In closing, I will amalgam on how my arguments and actual incidents reflect on my theory on behalf of campus carry.