Gun Control Should Be Legal

Gun Control in America has been argued back and forth for decades past. On one side it is strongly believed that the Second Amendment suggests that individual citizens have a constitutionally protected right to own a gun and protect themselves. These individuals believe that gun control laws do not in fact reduce gun violence. On the other side it is said if Gun Control laws are enacted there would be less gun and school violence. Also, it would be harder for criminals and juveniles to obtain a firearm. Both sides have very valid arguments and historical evidence to back their positions on within this debate.

Any school setting is supposed to be a peaceful learning environment. Nothing about guns symbolizes peace. Guns will increase the tension all over campus and students nor faculty should have to fear for their safety. For one professor, the campus carry law was too much of a risk. Daniel Hamermesh is a UT professor who teaches economics to a class of nearly 500 students has stated that he won’t be teaching at UT next year. Hamermesh claims that he has had many confrontations with furious students about grades and that a furious student with a weapon is a risk that he doesn’t want to

Guns and schools just don’t mix. Of course, this could be arguable from both sides. Only nine out of our fifty states allow guns on campus. Most private universities have the choice to decide if they want to allow concealed weapons on campuses. As for public institutions with the law in its state, they have no choice. Public institutions only have control of what buildings are limited. There are numerous reasons that it could be beneficial, but it can also be a complete catastrophe just waiting to happen. In today’s society, people feel the need to be more protected because of what’s going on in the world. There have been many reported incidents in regards to guns being abused on school grounds. Guns end lives, so it’s imperative that we understand the rules and why they’re so important. In order for people to really understand the pros and cons of having guns on campus, they first must began to understand its safety hazards, retaliation and prevention mechanism.

Each person has their own idea of what our founding fathers meant when they put this in our constitution. Some people use guns as a hunting sport or for food. But then there are the ones who want to cause harm to each other. I still remember the morning of December 11, 2012. The day the Clackamas Town Center shooting occurred. A man entered a busy mall, killed 2 people and seriously injured another. He ended up shooting himself after causing all that fear and pain to the shoppers. My family and I had planned to visit the mall that day to take my relatives who came to visit from California, but we overslept. We heard the news on the radio on our way there and we turned around knowing we could have been there. The culprit stole an AR-15 from

They defend this view by saying that,”…people are safer when they have guns to protect themselves; and that an armed bystander could put a stop to a mass shooting in progress” (Skorton and Altschuler 629). Timothy Wheeler makes another point by stating that gun free zones are easy targets for danger and that school killers have taken advantage of effective security (655). He enforces the idea of allowing guns on college grounds by affirming that at “…the Appalachian School of Law in 2002 [a] homicidal Virginia student was stopped from shooting more of his classmates when another student held him at gunpoint” (Wheeler 656). Skorton and Altschuler claim that “colleges and universities are far safer than most public places in the United States” (629). Although that is true, permitting guns on site would counteract that view in and out of the classroom. If firearms were to be allowed on college grounds would campuses still be considered secure locations, would students be able to speak freely on controversial topics, would they really be able to stop attackers if anything was to ever

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.

“Gun control? We need bullet control! I think every bullet should cost $5,000. Because if a bullet cost $5,000, we wouldn’t have any innocent bystanders.” (Rock, 1999) Chris Rock got a big laugh when he expressed his comical stance on the issues with guns. With the heart-wrenching reality of the Virginia Tech massacre, the issue of whether or not guns should be allowed on college campus has returned to the forefront of debates, and this is no longer a

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.

Every day parents send their children off to school with the expectation that they will be returned home safely at the end of the day. However, with an ever increasing number of school shootings some parents are pulling their children out of school because they feel as if school can no longer offer the same sense of security as they once had. Some schools are pressing for the right for school instructors to carry a loaded weapon on campus. School instructors should be allowed to carry a loaded weapon on campus because it helps prevent school shootings, it protects them during school shootings, and gives students and staff an added sense of security.

Bruce Willis once stated, “If you take guns away from legal gun owners, then the only people who would have guns would be the bad guys”. This introduces the controversy of whether guns should be allowed on college campuses throughout the United States or not. There have been multiple public shootings on campuses throughout America, but there is no definite solution to stopping these catastrophes from occurring. Many politicians and citizens are asking themselves the same question: Will guns make students safer or endanger them? This statement can be disputed both ways because many believe that college students are not mature enough to handle guns while others argue that they are adults and have the right to

In 2015, there were 353 mass shootings and 62 schools shootings in the United States of America. On top of this, nearly sixty percent of homicides since 2015 were committed through the use of firearms and although there are no official figures, it is estimated that there are about 300 million guns, or approximately 88 for everyone 100 persons (Gunter). Although correlation cannot prove causation, the United States almost doubles most other developed countries assault deaths rates per one hundred thousand people (Ehrenfreund and Goldfarb). Although gun violence is a serious problem in the U.S., more firearms is not the answer, especially on campus. More weapons will only cause more problems for other students and law enforcement. Campus carry laws should not be passed, as there are other, better alternatives and more guns will only cause more problems and for people to feel unsafe.

Gun Massacres do have an end to them but the steps to end them must be taken before we can say that we will have come close to eradicating the problems that cause gun violence to occur in the first place. Perhaps new policy could include keeping police stationed at strategic points on campus to better respond to threats right when they are called in, or arming security guards better, or perhaps doing random gun sweeps to make sure that no guns are on campus. These things would be more effective than arming, or allowing, an entire student body that could use the guns for anything. However, those opposed may see this as an infringement against gun rights, as Colorado found it recently to be in violation of state law. There is no evidence that says a well armed society is a polite society sans a quote popular amongst right wingers, and in this case it makes no sense to arm a society that would possibly not react in the way that is foreseen, especially if the consequences could be a lot worse than is intended. On the contrary, schools are generally safe areas, as evidenced by the isolated incidents of school shootings. (Rubino, 2012) When the sheer number of schools in the United States is brought into account, and how few gun violence incidents there are, it makes sense not to arm a student body against a threat that likely will never occur within 50 miles of them, an overwhelming likeliness. A gun free campus is

There has been a various amount of debate between several groups of people and colleges, inquiring if they would feel comfortable with students having a handgun on college campuses. A few states in the U.S. have been thinking about allowing firearms in University campuses throughout America due to the increasing amount of assaults. Some of the states that are already allowing guns on school campus are Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. Although some individuals believe that having a gun on campus is a dreadful idea, some see it as a relief to their safety. It is known that a school’s first priority is to keep each and every student safe. Maintaining a safe environment in college or in any school is extremely necessary. In theory, if we start to allow the students and staff to carry weapons on school grounds they still need to learn how to use them appropriately, and be able to handle situations that get thrown their way. Students are put into situations where they have to stay up all night and do their school work. In addition to that, some actually have the responsibility to go to work. With that being said, in reality the students won’t have enough time to go through professional training to master the techniques on how to use guns responsibly like policemen and gain knowledge on how to react to extreme situations like they do.

Watching the news and reading the newspaper will proclaim that gun violence has lead to uncontrollable measures. Everytime I turn on the television there is a shooting, and the results are always someone getting killed. Clubs, Schools, and even in my own neighborhood are the places that are singled out the most. Guns on a college campus deflexes the purpose of instututional learning, it’s very dangerous to the school, students and administratives. Although there are dangers on university campuses, students should not be allowed to carry concealed handguns because guns on campus lead to an escalation in violent crime, distraction from the learning environment and more suicides.

“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.