“Colleges and universities occupy a special place in American society. They are much more than a series of buildings and collection of individuals. Instead, they are dynamic living and learning environments where individuals with varying levels of maturity interact, often under stressful circumstances. While recognizing the right of responsible individuals to possess firearms under other circumstances, the unique characteristics of a university campus make the presence of firearms problematic. The shootings that have occurred in recent years at US colleges and universities have generated passionate debate about how best to prevent such violence and whether persons should be allowed to carry concealed guns on campuses. Experts believe there is no credible evidence that students or staff carrying guns would reduce crime. In fact, research has shown that the brains of most college students have not fully developed regarding impulse control and judgment” (Dickerson). Therefore, guns should not be allowed on college campuses because it would lead to an escalation in violent crime, distract from the learning environment, and lead to accidental discharge incidents.
Allowing guns on campuses has to be one of the most absurd solutions conceived to regulate safety. Firearms have no place in the hands of staff and students on campus. The idea is totally blown out of proportion because many universities actually considering concealed carry believe the impact will be less crime and more safety, but what exactly does it mean to allow a weapon on college property? People that are for campus carry argue that those with a firearm will be able to defend themselves against any incident that is bound to happen, but what happens when they pull out a gun? How will students, staff, or law enforcement react? Guns on campuses are not a good idea due to the fact students aren't fully mature enough to carry a weapon, they will become inhibited in
In 2007, 32 students and teachers die after being held at gunpoint on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University by a student, Seung Hui Cho, who attended the school later on dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. In all 27 students and 5 faculty members died. I really think that guns shouldn't be allowed on college campuses at all because it will cause a distraction from the learning environment, would lead to an increased number of suicides by college students, a gun might go off by accident, most college students are too young to carry a concealed handgun license, and school shootings don't happen that often and college campuses are very safe so, therefore, there is no need to carry a concealed weapon on a campus.
Due to the recent upheaval of violent crimes on campus, many pro-gun activist have suggested that both the students and teachers should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus. Those for this may claim that their rights have been violated because many college campuses refuse to allow weapons of any kind on campus. It is not the right to carry a gun which is in debate here, but rather it is whether or not guns should be allowed on a college campus. The Constitution of The United States of America already grants citizens the right to carry guns, and being in the south, I am by far no stranger to seeing a gun from time-to-time, but it is not appropriate for guns to be in a vulnerable area such as a college campus. There are already too many guns available to the public, and allowing them on an educational facility would greatly increase the likelihood of injury or death. Americans, as previously mentioned, have the right to bear arms, and this should be held sacred, and not infringed, taken away, or limited. However, stricter firearm control should be implemented for those who chose to carry a concealed weapon, and gun control should be done by having stricter certification processes before a firearm or gun permit is issued, intensive psychological evaluation for the person or persons applying for a gun permit or a gun,and greater educational requirements for gun owners and firearm safety.
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.
Students, especially in a college environment, should not be in possession of a firearm. College students go to parties and tend to get intoxicated. When under the influence, a student’s judgment becomes impaired, now add a gun into an already potentially dangerous environment and the consequences could be fatal. Even if students do exercise caution when handling their firearms, accidents can occur. According to Gun Violence Archive, there were 1,959 accidental shootings in 2015 and already 533 accidental shootings in 2016. Not only are guns dangerous at the hands of a shooter, but they are dangerous in the hands of anyone. Most students are not trained on how to operated a firearm, tend to make poor decisions and accidents do happen. In my opinion, students should not be allowed to have guns on campus, for the sake of everyone’s
Gun control on campuses all across the United States of America has been a controversial and popular debate topic for me ever since I woke up one morning on April 20, 1999 and witnessed, what at that time was the deadliest campus shooting in our history, at that time. Obviously I am talking about the shooting that occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado where Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris attacked their school and opened fire on helpless students, brutally murdering 12 students, a teacher, and then killing themselves. I may have been young at the time of the shooting, but it definitely was my first interaction with deadly violence in a campus setting and opened my eyes to the harsh reality of how crazy our world can be at
According to the NCSL, National Conference of State Legislatures “Over the last five years, campus safety legislation has been a hot issue across the country”. Authors like Jazz Silva are standing up for student’s rights that some State Legislatures might not care about. Not only are weapons dangerous but it is unsafe to students who may struggle with mental health issues. College campuses are safer than the communities that surround them. The University of Louisiana system states “93% of the violence against students occurs off campus.” Allowing guns on campus would lead to an escalation in violence, can lead to an increased number of suicides by college students, and the possibility that a weapon can go off by accident.
In the past years, there have been many cases of school shootings injuring and killing many students. With these cases came the argument of having concealed weapons in schools in order for the teachers or students in college to protect and defend themselves and others when the time came. While some argue that it is the best way to keep everyone safe and how it is our right to bear arms, others will agree that it may just cause more shootings and more deaths. Concealed weapons should not be allowed in colleges, because it will make them available for students who should not have a weapon, having weapons does not mean people are willing and able to use it, and lastly because accidents can occur when least expected.
The right to bear arms is a liberty given to us in the United States written in the Second Amendment. However, that should not apply to college campuses across the nation. Giving anyone the accessibility to take a fire arm without any penalty could possibly make it easier to plot a scheme that would inflict harm to students. The vast majority would agree, it is difficult to talk about guns on campuses, since it associates with previous shootings that have taken placed in recent memory. Understandably, for many people to witness these tragedies have severely crippled them emotionally, physiologically, even physically. Even if the person carrying such a weapon with the true intention in defending, should not be accountable in defending themselves from outside influences. The law enforcement is well equipped to handle matters like these. We can never foresee or intervene a crime that will occur in the future, but we can prevent it. One way we can get closer
There will be more crimes, if we allow students and school employees to carry guns around the school. There is a lot of people that are mentally ill, and have plans to ruin other people’s life. . Many of those people that are mentally ill go to our community college. We will never know when someone will start shooting for no reason. It’s
Violence flourishes everywhere we go in today’s society. There is no way out and no way to escape it. Going to college, does not make you feel any safer than being outside of college. Mass shootings this year have increased, especially in school all over the United States. Even though, the shootings have been in most high schools, they can be on college campuses just as well. Gun concealment should be allowed on college campuses. We deserve the right to protect ourselves. We deserve to feel safe anywhere we go without any fear of harm. They cannot take the second amendment away from the people. Students and faculty need extra security when they cannot rely on the authorities to be there. Special requirements should be intact, but if concealing a gun to feel protected is strong, there will be no problem taking the requirements.
Despite our whereabouts everyone main concern is gun violence; there is always an argument concerning guns. Should be mandated or not? Is it life or death situation or plain old homicide? With that question being asked by Americans nationwide, should students be allowed to carry guns or campus? Or should we fear that they all will use it for all the wrong reasons intended?
The decision for college and university campuses to allow their students to carry concealed weapons on campus is a risky debate that one should disagree with. A numerous amount of unfortunate events that have a chance of happening would result as a train thought if the decision was made. Various public schools below college level have been publicized throughout the years to have been involved with shootings, threats, or suicide with arms that were sneaked onto campus discretely, or exposed through a rageful manner fired at random innocent individuals. College level, there is already a majority of students that are above the age of eighteen or twenty-one, both ages having the legal privilege to purchase a weapon. This would increase a caution
However, instead of worrying about the presence of guns in the classroom and dorms, college campuses could actually restrict the allowance of having a gun in the classroom and the dorms. If they do this, the campuses would still retain control of what's to happen in their classrooms and residence halls and the students would have a harder time accessing the weapon. Resulting in the prevention of a