Personal Opinion Essay: The Influence Of Guns On Campus

In Troutdale, Oregon June 10, 2014 a 15-year-old High School freshman brought an assault rifle to school and shot 14-year-old freshman Emilio Hoffman. Two school resource officers, Nick Thompson and Kyle Harris, were armed security guards at the high school during the shooting. The school Resource Officers were able to respond as armed security before the shooter was able to fire additional rounds into classmates. This timely response should be required for all educational establishments that are prime targets for mentally disturbed gun owners (Barkoukis, Leah). According to a survey asking 100 LBCC student if they agree with campus security to be armed, 72% responded in favor of armed staff (Survey). Only 12% of students disagreed with

Should teachers and students be allowed to have guns on campus? According to Tierra Francois, guns allows her to feel safe on campus. She also says if teachers had guns it would allow her to feel safe in the classroom. Kenzie Kesselring believes that guns on campus is not safe with all the debates that happen on campus and people snap and you never know what's going to happen. She also says that students might have the fear of the other students with

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

Sometimes people can react in a situation they never thought they would react in. They say they will act in a certain way until that situation occur. When discussing gun laws people shouldn't be allowed to carry them on campus because people wouldn't know how to react. People can get caught up in situation they never thought they can get into and react in either a smart way or a dumb way. According Erin Sheehan a witness of the Virginia Tech shooting “In a nearby classroom, students decided to jump from the second floor through the window, and ran for safety to a nearby window.” People fear for their lives so much they reacted in jumping out the window not even thinking twice about if it would kill them. According to Sarah Evans who was

On April 16th 2007 at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a student with psychological problems began a two hour killing spree that left 33 dead (Reader). The massacre that occurred at this school is now the worst recorded incident in the history of the United States and eclipses the University of Texas massacre of 1966. In the wake of tragedies like these, students, teachers and administrators propose more measures to make us feel safe on campus. But why weren't these measures in place before? School administrators and police have a responsibility to protect their students and faculty on campus, and these instances clearly shown a lack of fulfilling that responsibility. And yet several campus' refuse to allow law-abiding and

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

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

In the past couple of years, violence in colleges have been on the rise. Many crimes happen that the media don’t inform the public about because they don't want college to seem as dangerous as it really is. Guns made for people for a means of defense can be used to save lives and can also be used to end them. Colleges will lose a lot of money when students find out just how dangerous the campus can be and they should want students to feel safe. Pepper spray is not always able to take out a shooter or anyone that is armed for a long period of time. Just holding a gun makes a person feel safe whether it has ammo in it or not. Even though guns on campus can bring harm to others when a psychopath can use his or her gun right for killing rather

School should be a place of peace and opportunity, but gaps in the system of gun control threatens the safety of faculty and students. School shootings have killed a total of 297 lives, young and old (Slate Magazine). Gun control has been a continuous nationwide debate for many years. It seems that no one wants to take a stance against guns unless they are personally affected. In order to take control of the matter and prevent more incidents from continuing schools need to change. To achieve a safe environment in schools need to educate faculty, safe and students, heighten security, and assess mental health issues.

School shootings have altered American history greatly over the past two decades. From 1997 to 2007, there have been more than 40 school shootings, resulting in over 70 deaths and many more injuries. School shoot-outs have been increasing in number dramatically in the past 20 years. There are no boundaries as to how old the child would be, or how many people they may kill or injure. At Mount Morris Township, Michigan, on February 29th, 2000, there was a 6 year old boy who shot and killed another 6 year old girl at the Buell Elementary School with a .32 caliber pistol. And although many shootings have occurred at High Schools or Middle Schools, having more guns on those campuses would not be a good environment for children to grow up in.

“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.

Public places like college campuses are often victim to acts of both domestic and foreign terrorism. It is a common perception that in order to prevent shootings from happening you have to make college campuses a gun-free environment. This only makes the students who go to college feel even more unsafe. Students who are the victims of stalking are often in a state of fear as they are unable to defend themselves if a situation turns dire. The question of whether or not if guns should be on campus is not simply about the safety of students, but it also is an argument about the rights of students to bear arms that are protected by the Second Amendment. Colleges that try to invoke a gun-free atmosphere are infringing on both the safety of the student

“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

Governor Greg Abbott plans to sign into law two bills that will expand the rights of

Crime seems to be at an all-time high in current times. I feel that this is due to so many people carrying guns. The safety of all people should be the focus of our society now. One area we really need to not allow firearms on campuses. This is only one area to focus on. There are several reason why allowing guns on colleges campuses and universities could be dangerous to people.