Tragedy is Preventable on College Campuses 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. …show more content…
Mass shootings have become easily accessible to college students and professors. Intruders who have no relation to the college are also now able to enter the campus without being questioned as to what their purpose for being there is. The idea of students walking around campus with the ability to brutally murder a schoolmate has caused fear to be struck into the college community. Not only has the campus carry law affected students on the campus, but it also affects the community that surrounds the college. The community has grown nervous because they feel as if the outward impact of allowing guns near their homes will be severe. It places young children in danger of the unexpected. The openness of the community has granted many who want to cause emotional damage access to tearing apart families. The rate of gun violence is steadily increasing as the campus carry law becomes more …show more content…
Allowing guns on campus makes it much easier for college students to end their life because they are too stressed to cope. The idea of ending one’s own life has grown as a more accessible option because it is a more impulsive decision for young adults on college campuses. Students no longer feel their life is valuable because they are exposed to so much negativity in the real world of college. Suicide is also developed in college students because of the past events that have occurred in their lives such as high school. With no family at college with them, students have an easier time deciding to commit suicide. This idea is even easier for them to create because they won’t be questioned as to why they may have a gun in their backpack or their dorm room. The idea that they have no one to stop them has made the look of a campus in Texas much more appealing to those who are depressed and
A major issue in the United States is gun control. Due to multiple mass shootings in schools and public areas, restrictions regarding guns have been implemented across the United States. Andrew Parks, a student at The University of Alabama, wrote an article against gun restrictions. His article, “The University should allow concealed carry,” supports the idea of college campuses like The University of Alabama, allowing students to conceal carry firearms. In an article written by Jennie Kushner, the opinions of students on the University of Alabama’s Police Department’s gun policy are presented. The safety of student body relies on the students’ feeling safe. That safety comes from less gun control laws and policies on campus. Each of the articles stated provides information against gun control in different ways.
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.
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
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.
Students and staff with guns are not only a danger to other people, intentions malicious or not, but also to themselves. Students under high stress and emotional distress in general do not need to be around tools that can cause so much harm with so little effort. This argument, with the resounding knowledge of the high use of mind altering drugs on college campuses, mixed with the statistics surrounding the unhealthy psyche of students should be enough to show that campus carry is a bad
Reports indicate violence on a college campus are commonly caused by a student against students (Dickerson). Most cases of college violence occurred in the earlier 1990s and 2000s but severely of the incidents out of 272 cases the perpetrators killed 281 people incapacitated 247 or more (Dickerson). With the effective passing of Concealed carry laws, they have caused a possible increase of violence on college campuses (Dickerson). Even though guns on campus seem like a good idea for young adults for safety. Their brains are still developing as they still being perceived as physical mature (Dickerson). Many college students are easily persuaded and pressure to enact in risky actives. They get indulged more with alcohol and drugs staying on campus and it shows one risk students are faced with (Dickson). Dickson believes there are alternative ways to keep college students and faculties safe without the handling of guns on
Situations like the Virginia Tech incident and the Colombine massacre happened because people with guns found places where they knew nobody else would be able to shoot back. Only police can respond at that point and by the time police arrive to settle the situation, many lives have already been lost. Allowing more people like students and staff access to concealed firearms on school campuses, the magnet that pulls criminals towards places like schools would be detached. Charlie Collins, a Republican state legislator who wrote the campus concealed-carry bill said, "This has been a bad year for campus killings, and it's a problem that's not going away," he said. "One thing that can help reduce it, and help save the lives of our loved ones on college campuses, is eliminating the magnets that exist for these crazy killers." (Collins and
It provides opposing views of the need or lack thereof in regards to carrying a gun on college campuses. This study presents data for violent crimes on college campuses and compares it to the general public.
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.
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.
“The first thing Violand saw was a gun, then the gunman, ‘I quickly dove under a desk, ’he recalled, ‘that was the desk I chose to die under.’ “(Maraniss). While the U.S. constitution says Americans have the right to bear arms, firearms continue to threaten our schools, work and religious areas. Regardless of the danger that guns possess some states have passed a bill to allow campus carry, which grants professors and college students the choice to carry a firearm on college or university campuses. Although, we have seen the amount of influence that firearms have caused in the past a good amount of public still supports the claim that guns are a reasonable source of protection. However, while many in favor of campus carry view it as a safety precaution, campus carry should not be allowed because there is no evidence that proves campus carry will keep students safer and carrying a concealed weapon can distract from the learning environment.
Not only can concealed carry help prevent and stop mass shootings on campuses before the police arrive; it can also help lower the crime rate. Renneker demonstrates that not allowing concealed carry on campus leads to a higher crime rate on campus by citing the following, much in line with Fortunato’s findings on concealed carry across the nation. In 2013 Boise State
Javier Auyero states in his article that he dreads the possibility of having young vigilantes within his classroom (1). By allowing the “ campus carry “ laws to pass, the presence of guns will become germane. This allows for no definite way to distinguish between a mass shooter and a regular Joe. carrying a gun for protection. Even Art Acevedo, chief of the Austin Police Department disagrees with SB 11 (Campus carry Laws) he simply states that having concealed weapons on campuses with create a “less safe” environment (Auyero 1). Should we heed a warning from a man who knows quite a bit about violent gun crimes?
“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.