Guns : Students Now Armed On College Campuses

One of the major heated issues with gun control has been the legislation of concealed carry on college campuses. According to Weeden’s (2017) article, “Guns on Campus,” Arkansas and Georgia have already passed bills to allow students and faculty to carry guns on campus. I can understand why states are doing this due to the amount of school shootings that have been occurring

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.

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.

With backpacks in tow and pencils in hand, college students crisscross campus with stress of acing the test, hardly thinking about their safety. This was the case on a clear Tuesday at the University of Texas on September 28th, 2010. Students fled from a mask gunman carrying an AK-47 and shooting randomly around campus. Nineteen-year-old Colton Tooley, wearing a black mask, eventually killed himself in the library. Remarkably, no one else was injured or killed. (MSNBC) This was not the case in 1966 when 16 people where killed with 32 injured by a gunman in the UT clock tower. The debate still wages on to allow concealed guns to be carried on college campus in Texas despite a recent bill that failed to pass. The US Constitutional Second

The difference on perspectives has been a major issue especially after President Obama’s constant effort to pass more gun control laws. In contrast, the presumably and deeply Republican state of Texas, which has very few restrictions on guns, has just passed a law that makes concealed carrying on college campuses legal. Such law has been a controversy and had divided reactions from Texans all around the state. The problem that is tried to solve with this bill is to prevent more mass shootings from happening in the facilities of higher education institutions. It is very important to

The first arguement for concealed guns on campus comes from insiderhighered.com written by Kaitlin Mulhere. She states that so far eleven states are discussing on being able to carry a concealed gun on campus. There has been at least one bill that has been suggested in about half of the fifty states within past few years for guns on campus. So far, seven states have made laws allowing guns on campus. Kaitlin says that there are two views on the issue. One being that it is a constitutional right for one to be able to carry a gun. The second being that it will make campuses safer from shooters and other criminals. It was brought up in the beginning that armed people on campus could commit a mass shooting which worried many people. Kaitlin

Since 1966, there have been 127 events in which four or more people were killed by a lone shooter. Since 2015, 52 of those 127 events have been school shootings; twenty-one being at colleges and universities, fifteen at high schools, three at middle schools, ten at elementary schools, two at preschools, and one on a school bus. On August 1, 2016, Texas Senate Bill 11, also known as Campus Carry, became a law allowing people with a concealed handgun license to carry concealed handguns in permitted areas on college campuses. Continuing to allow college students and faculty to carry concealed handguns on campuses is likely to make colleges, like Texas State University, overall better and safer.

On August 1, 2016, senate bill 11 (S.B. 11) was put into effect, which allows for the carrying of concealed handguns on Texas public institution campuses by license to carry a handgun (LTC) holders (Campus Carry UTSA). There has been lots of controversy over this new law, especially since there were 23 shootings on college campuses in 2015 alone. In this essay, I plan to explain the stipulations of this new law and why it is controversial.

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%.

There are several debates among people that remain in a repetitive and vicious cycle of what is right, and what is wrong. Concealed carry on college campuses is one of those noticeable arguments. As the years pass by, gun rights on college campuses have become a touchy subject that is normally avoided at dinner tables and formal events. The laws concerning concealed carry on college campuses vary from state to state, and also from campus to campus. Several factors about concealed carry either have people uneasy while others adamantly fight for more gun rights on college campuses and universities. Should concealed carry be allowed on campus, and are people taking into account school violence, learning environment, crime, student’s safety and constitutional rights?

In reading the essay titled, “Guns Don’t Belong in the Hands of Administrators, Professors, or Students,” the author addresses the concern for safety on college campuses. The author Jesus M. Villahermosa Jr., who was a deputy sheriff for Pierce County Sheriff's Department for thirty-three years of dedicated service until he retired in 2014. Certifications include: being the first certified Master Defensive Tactics Instructor for law enforcement personnel in the state of Washington, serving as a Firearm's Instructor, and an Active Shooter Instructor. Villahermosa not only discusses important questions when considering the terms of firearms on campus, and in the hands of administration and faculty but offers his experience, while informing the reader, of the likeliness of more heightened danger due to inadequate training which could potentially lead to death and other repercussions for the person holding the firearm.

The summary of this article is state laws are pushing universities to allow campus carry. The lawmakers say that there can be some areas that are gun free but it cannot be campus wide. 300 faculty members signed a petition stop this law. There already eight states that have approved campus carry so far. The authors purpose was to inform how the states are trying to push concealed carry in campus. His point of view is that state should not make the decision to allow guns on campus.

On August 1, 2016, students and faculty alike of universities in several states had their lives changed forever. Their safety became more endangered than ever when the most harmful law was passed, the allowance of open carry on college campuses. The state with the most argument over the law is Texas. Texas campuses now believe that having the campus carry policy will cause more young adults to want to attend that university because they are able to protect themselves. However, the campus carry law has caused Texas universities to make students, faculty, and the community feel unsafe in their “home” by making gun-related injuries more accessible to cause to those who feel the need to cause harm.

Thousands of kids roam a college campus - and it only takes one. No amount of preparation, staff training, or school-wide drills can prepare the university for something so terrible. This tragedy will forever change the way students and teachers operate the school. One man. One gun. And the sad part is that all of this can all be averted. For this reason, the law should consent to “licensed concealed carry” (carrying a weapon with a license) on campus. If students were allowed to defend themselves with their own weapons, they would. Teachers and students should be permitted to carry firearms onto the campus because the rule that bans weapons will not stop a shooter, it will greatly increase a person’s self–defense, and it can stop

Lazarus ONWUASOANYA Ms. Nguyen English 1301 November 5, 2016 Argument Essay Should Guns Be Permitted On Campuses? Owing to the current confusion of intense crimes on college campus, several pro-gun activist have recommended that it will be of a good idea for both the teachers and students should be allowed to go to school with concealed weapons on different campuses in the United State of America. In the Untied State of America is already in the Constitution to grants all the citizens the right to have guns in the name to defend oneself.