Keeping Schools Safe “The new gun law will only cause havoc,” said Emily. "Instead of benefiting the students, the mere concept is already causing them to stress,” Megan said in agreement. “There are plenty of other safe ways to lower crime rates on college campuses,” said Taylor. “It is impossible to know who is trustworthy with a weapon,” said Emily. “Legalizing concealed carry will easily higher the odds of fatal disputes,” said Megan. Firearms should not be allowed on campus. The majority of students have a low shooting accuracy. Along with that, the shooter would need to be near them in order to make a move. In a state of panic, most students will not be able to think clearly, let alone hit the target. If trained officials can only …show more content…
In other words, There is a high chance that the student will miss the shot. If so, they could potentially make the shooter angrier. This could possibly result in the loss of more lives. The majority of students have a low shooting accuracy. Guns are a threat to student’s safety. In some states, a background check is not required to purchase a gun. This allows many mentally unstable people an opportunity to commit violent crimes. Once someone has a gun, they can easily abuse its power. To illustrate, Handgun license holders are more of a danger, rather than an aid to the community (Students for Gun-free Schools 637). Specifically, A gun owner can cause others to feel threatened. When this occurs, the gun owner can easily terrorize others. They can hold any civilian at gunpoint and force them to obey their demands. In particular, Students for Gun-free Schools mention, “Between January and August 31, 2001, Texas concealed handgun license holders were arrested for 5,314 crimes - including murder, rape, kidnapping, and theft” (638). Therefore, Those who own guns are the majority of those who commit crimes. Since criminals get a sense of power from these deadly weapons, they should remain off of school grounds. Students do not need to carry guns and intimidate their peers. Guns are a threat to student’s
Their first instinct would be to pull out their gun not call Law Enforcement or campus security. Thus, creating a problematic situation rather than resolving one. “Guns should not be allowed on college campuses, they present a serious physical danger for faculty and students.” Should we really put our trust into some papers and results that determine who is capable of handling a lethal weapon and who isn’t. Humanity is unpredictable, and deceitful.
However on the other side of this very sensitive issue, handling a gun is a very big and overwhelming responsibility. It would take a lot of practice to be able to shoot in that situation. School shooters are most likely to be students. Teachers would have a difficult time shooting their own student and Lots of these school shooters get their guns from home. Like I said before Over the years of 2013 and 2015 there has been 84 k-12 school shootings and 76 college shootings.
The dangers of having possession of a gun on campus can lead to a larger percentile of death because of the low accuracy levels. With that, it there is no assurance that the individual is going to have a clear view point of who the target is. Through basic training and acquiring a license they are not taught to know who
The fear within the uncertainty of gun control is understandable, but the application is not, in any way, logical. According to ProCon, which evaluated statistics from Everytown for Gun Safety, since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, there have been 122 school shootings, resulting in only 34 deaths (2015). While these shootings and deaths are tragic, on a national radar, they are small numbers. In fact, out of the past 122 school shootings, only 11 were mass shootings (ProCon 2015). Mass shootings, or shootings where more than three people are injured or killed, are the most publicized, but small statistic, falling behind accidental shootings; showing that a gun related accident is more likely than a school shooting. As stated by the U.S. Department of Education, “the odds that a child would die in school–by homicide or suicide–are, fortunately, no greater than 1 in 1 million” (Bloom 2012). The fear of sitting in a classroom and being interrupted by a gunman has been heavily publicized by the media, as opposed to the actual reality, which shows that these chances are extremely slim. Ironically, According to Dave
If college campuses legalize the right to obtain a concealed weapon there could a risk of escalation in violence on college campuses. Allowing college students to carry a concealed weapon on campus makes for many opportunities of potential misuse of the weapon. According to the Journal of American College Health, most college students don't have experience shooting or holding a gun, therefore, they could make a mistake and unintentionally harm somebody or even themselves. Granting college students access to guns will pose increased risks of incidents of self-injury, accidental shootings and even murders. The University of Louisiana system shows that evidence also indicates that the presence of concealed weapons on campus would increase the likelihood of
Multiple people trying to stop the shooter would make it difficult for authorities to control the situation. It’s possible that a police officer could encounter a predicament in which he or she doesn’t know who the shooter is and who is the person that’s trying to defend him or herself. Depressed students who are stressed from the pressure of college will sometimes come across the idea of taking their lives. Guns would only make it easier by dramatically increasing the success rate for attempts when compared to methods like an overdose. Who will he or she shoot then; innocent people could get hurt this way. The main focal point in terms of weapon choice when it comes to Concealed Carry seems to be a gun, but I think there are other ways to minimize school shootings rather than pushing for gun violence. Wheeler mentions that “school killers have proved to be simply taking advantage of the lack of effective security school”, therefore, authorities should attempt to implement strict screenings to scare off shooters and prevent guns from making it inside the building in the first place
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.
Soon after the 1999 massacre, school lockdowns became widespread and ushered new security measures in school across the U.S. The effort of installing Lockdowns were strengthened after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Instructors and staff members applied these safety procedures to protect students at the school. Students were swept into the storage closets and behind bookcases where they would hide until the situation is fully resolved. Today, instructors are advised to snap off the lights, lock the doors and usher students into closets and corners while the school officials contact the police. In this locked room, students' text one another, play cards or board games or just wait until they are told everything is back to normal. Indeed, since the Columbine shooting, 32 states have enacted laws demanding schools to perform lockdown drills to keep students safe from intruders (Muschert 11). However, over the years, in the past decade, shooting has increased. The introduction of lockdown drills has not materialized in today’s setting as gun control laws have failed. The massive ownership of guns allowed in the Second Amendment of the U.S Constitution has promoted school shootings. Today, students have access to guns from parents and there is no minimum age for owning a long gun. It means even a child can own a rifle. The weakness of legal ownership of guns in the U.S is clear. So, even with
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.
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 of law focused approaches colleges should take a holistic view and move towards providing robust security programs, safety training, communication networks 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
According to a list of school shootings on the CNN web-site, there were twenty school shootings that happened in the United States between January 2018 and April 2018. Twenty shootings, which killed and injured many people, on campuses are not a small number. Shockingly, a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida killed seventeen innocent people on February 14th, 2018, and it is a serious alert to students’ safety on campus. Many people believe that educators should be armed, so the students would feel safe while being in schools. Some people also urge the American government to enact a law, which allows educators to possess weapons in schools. On the other hand, there has been a lot of disagreements about ideas of armed educators because the teachers might not have a stable mentality to make a right decision and possibly end up shooting wrong targets in hostile situations. A critical discussion on the pros and cons of educators carrying guns will help people understand why shooting on campus should be addressed as well as become more aware of this concerning issue.
The tragic events at Virginia Tech in April of 2007 and Northern Illinois University in February of 2008 have policymakers, campus officials and citizens looking for solutions to prevent future attacks (Dickerson). Violent shootings that have occurred on a few college campuses in recent years have provoked a debate over
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.
When pondering guns we tend to think whether the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, would be taken away. Whether or not to allow concealed weapons on college campuses has been a debated topic for many years. Whether we should allow conceal and carry on campuses seems like a hard debate for many reasons, one such as whether it would be safe to allow college students to be armed with weapons. Several colleges lately have been allowing conceal and carry on their college campuses. Conceal and carry used to be a topic that not many people thought would come up when talking about colleges and where to go. The recent shootings have sparked a debate over whether to allow conceal and carry on college campuses. Like many people who are about to
The laws on concealed carry hand-guns have become stricter over the past couple of years. When it comes to concealed weapons on college campus, everybody there will have a different opinion. The students, faculties, and staff’s opinions will differ because of how they were raised, or even where they grew up. Some people want to have a concealed hand gun on a college campus because it is their right and for protection, but putting other lives in danger is a greater risk.