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 …show more content…
The first, being the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting in Blacksburg, VA on April 16, 2007. This cowardly and savage attack was carried out by Cho Seung-Hui. This attack left 33 people dead and became the deadliest shooting rampage in a campus setting in history. This became more horrifying than Columbine, in my opinion. The reason I say that is because I was a Junior in High School when the Virginia Tech shooting happened and I was taking standardized testing that entire week. The next day, as what happens so frequently after a high profile national news story, we had a copy cat who threatened to do the same thing to our high school. I had never experienced so much high level security at my high school prior to that week. It was clear everyone was on edge, from the students, to the faculty, and from the police and SWAT that were on site at our high school. Fortunately nothing happened, but I remember being very uneasy that week. Ever since that week from hell, I have wondered what it would have been like if we, as students and faculty would have been allowed to carry a firearm to protect ourselves during that uneasy time. As I look back on that time I realize with everyone being on edge, had we all been allowed to carry for protection, maybe the nerves and edginess would have been slightly less and more subdued. Unfortunately, we will never know. Tragedies like what occurred at Virginia tech brought a mass political
This shooting was the worst in United States history, and it left families speechless and people in disarray. Two teens committed the treacherous actions of that day. The speculations were that they did this because of bullying, goth culture, or music or video games; these though were all just theories and were never proven(history). After this event, schools, venues, and events have endured grand security increases in the danger of shooters or other violence. Throughout my school days, I have wondered why we do the silly lock down drills at school, but in reality, lives could be saved in the event of an actual attack on my school. I realized this my eight grade year at Guntown Middle School. There was an unidentified man on campus, a code red lock down would amerce. I still remember sitting under my desk, shaking, and almost to tears. I did not want to be remembered as just another statistic if it was a shooter. But it had been our lucky day, the man who had stirred up all the commotion was just looking for the school’s office. Those fears I experienced however, would stay with me. We all believe that we are invincible and that it would never be us. However, with the world as it is today, no one is safe. I have been affected by the Columbine shooting through security changes in schools that I
The right to bear arms is a wonderful thing. The law is great for multiple reasons and should not be taken away by Obama. Reason one for the right to bear arms is to be used as self defense in case of an attack by another person. Reason two for the right to bear arms helps citizens to save their own life and live a safe life. Reason three, in order to get a gun the person must go under a background check. Reason four, people are excluded if they have a criminal act against someone. Reason five, this law does not carelessly let a person own a firearm.
Gun control is a very controversial issue among society at present. Many feel guns are the cause of a great amount of crime. This has been an especially popular topic recently in lieu of the shooting at Columbine and other high schools across the country. Are these crimes reason to take away our freedom to bear arms? I do not believe so. The average person uses guns mainly as a means of protection. If limitations are placed on guns, they will only stop the average American from obtaining a gun. The real criminals out there will still be able to obtain guns through the black market. Every American should have the right to protect them self.
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.
Gun control is a major topic in today’s society and It is broken into many subcategories that all have different arguments and views. A few examples are The Second Amendment is not an unlimited right to own guns, more gun control laws would reduce gun deaths and more gun control leads to fewer suicides in the United States. The gun control category I am focusing on in this essay is, should teachers and students be able to carry firearms on a college campus. I chose this since I am currently attending college and this could have an effect directly on me or ASU. The idea of teachers and staff being able to carry firearms on a college campus has come up many times in the media recently due to the rise in mass shootings. Many states are now looking at this problem and voting on it. This topic is always heavily debated due to the many different sides and varying beliefs on gun control and safety. The NRA (National Rifle Association) has a heavy influence on the united states and who should be allowed guns and what legislation is passed. The gun control topic of firearms on a college campus has become politicized
Throughout the years there has been an ongoing debate over the Second Amendment and how it should be interpreted. The issue that is being debated is whether our government has the right to regulate guns. The answer of who has which rights lies within how one interprets the Second Amendment. With this being the case, one must also think about what circumstances the Framers were under when this Amendment was written. There are two major sides to this debate, one being the collective side, which feels that the right was given for collective purposes only. This side is in favor of having stricter gun control laws, as they feel that by having stricter laws the number of crimes that are being
The Second Amendment to the Constitution gave United States citizens the right to bear arms. Although, the Second Amendment stated: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms. However, the framers could not foresee the type of violence we have in our cities today. Innocent citizens have and are being brutally killed due to this amendment. Stricter gun control laws must be enacted to receive these types of weapons.
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
Governor Greg Abbott plans to sign into law two bills that will expand the rights of
Since I was a little girl, I remember hunting season; Dad and Katlyn, my sister, would come home to say they killed a deer. Even though I did not enjoy hunting, I still see how much they love to go; hunting great bonding time for them. My dad taught my sister and me how important gun safety is. He has shown us how to carry a gun properly, never to aim it at anyone, never put our finger on the trigger until ready to shoot, and always leave the safety button on until ready to shoot as well. In my house guns are always hidden or locked up in a safe, only Dad knows the combination, so no intruder can get to them. Guns are a very serious item. I was raised to understand guns are not something to joke around about; if they are in the hands
The right to keep and bear arms was considered a fundamental, individual right in the original 13 colonies from the pre-Revolutionary period through the ratification of the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution in 1791. The Amendment states: A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The right to keep and bear arms has been a topic of extreme controversy in this century and can be argued equally from both sides. The first side says that it is our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. On the flip side, it is too dangerous and would increase the number of violent crimes. No matter which side is
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
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.
The arguments against open carry on campus follow the same lines as arguments against concealed carry on campus. Since open carry as a whole is a relatively new subject in the debate about gun control, the statistics used will have to be from the concealed carry studies. While these are two different things, they are fundamentally the same. The major arguments are that it will increase crime, that the gun could go off on accident and injure someone, a person could also snap and go on a killing spree, and that there is no need for guns as police already carry and protect the school. The first argument to look at is that it will increase the crime rate on campus and in the surrounding areas. According to a peer-reviewed study in the Econ Journal Watch, “shall issue” laws saw an increase in aggravated assaults between 1977 and 2006. A paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research also found, between 1977 and 2010, an increase of 2% in murder rates in “shall issue” states. Criminals are more likely to carry a gun when they think a potential victim could have one. This is according to a survey of incarcerated felons by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research in which 75% of the felons agreed with this mentality.