Gun control is an effort to end violent crimes by strengthening laws on the ownership of firearms. According to our Second Amendment, people have the right to “keep and bear arms.” But, the Supreme Court has acknowledged exceptions to the Second Amendment freedoms, and also the fact that no right is absolute.
Americans have argued for a long time about laws that would allow professors or students to carry firearms on college campuses. Do gun-control laws on U.S. college campuses reduce violence, or they take weapons from honest citizens while leaving them in the hands of criminals? According to Villahermosa, “allowing guns on campuses will create problems, not solve them.” (“Guns Don’t belong in the Hand of Administrators, Professors, or Students” para. 1) I totally agree with Villahermosa’s point of view, and I believe that guns bring violence. Overall, gun related crimes on college campuses are a major problem in the United States, today.
Other experts disagree with Villahermosa’s point of view. For example, in an article written by Timothy Wheeler entitled “There’s A Reason They Choose Schools,” the author clearly demonstrates the “success of armed first responder.” ( ”There’s A Reason They Choose Schools” para. 5) In Wheeler’s opinion, schools and colleges are targets for mass shootings because of their gun-free zone policy. Overall, this is what makes colleges vulnerable to mass shootings.
Based on my research, this report evaluates if the potential risk for injuries and death resulted from the latest mass shootings on U.S. College campuses should increase public interest, and if new legislative bills in favor of arming professors or students should be created.
This report covers topics such: what we know about violence...
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...s on human brain.
We must ensure our students and faculty safety by keeping colleges free of any firearm.
Works Cited
Dickerson, Darby. "Students Should Not Be Allowed to Carry Guns on College Campuses." Opposing Viewpoints in Context, 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Villahermosa, Jesus M. "Gun Don't Belong in the Hands of Administrators, Professors or Students.” Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 18 Apr. 2008. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Wheeler, Timothy. "There's a Reason They Choose Schools.” National Review Online. National Review, Inc., 17 Oct. 2007. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Nugent, Ted. "Spare the Rod, Destroy America." Eagle Publishing, Inc., 8 Oct. 2009. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
C.C. Branas, T.S.Richmond, D.J.Wiebe.(2009) Investigating the Link Between Gun Possesion and Gun Assault. American Journal of Public Health 99:11, 2034-2040
Of all school shootings only 47 percent of them are on college campuses. The other 53 percent are in elementary through high school grade campuses. These numbers can be drastically cut back by allowing concealed and open carry on college campuses. Students should be allowed to open carry on campus because it increases the protection of both themselves and the public.
In “Stop Worrying About Guns in the Classroom. They’re Already here.” the author, Erik Gilbert, argues in favor of the law allowing the concealed carry of firearms in college campuses. Gilbert claims that it’s futile to be “worried by the prospect of having guns in [the] classroom” because he believes that even before the bill was passed, some students and faculty were already carrying firearms to campus (Gilbert). Furthermore, he insinuates that despite the presence of firearms, there were no incidents of student or faculty causing harm. To support his argument, the author provides incidents which have occurred over the last decade at his campus, such as accidental discharge of guns in dorms, firearms in student’s vehicles, and one faculty member who was discovered to be in possession of a gun in an on-campus facility. Considering these incidents and previous knowledge of “prevailing regional attitudes towards guns”, the author assumes that significant numbers of students, and possibly faculty, bring guns on campus regularly (Gilbert). As for those who are afraid due to the new law, he declares to them that firearm permit-holders are not dangerous by comparing the rate of their crimes to that of police officers. He also reasons that permit holders need to be at least 21 to qualify—claiming that the more mature students qualify—and have background checks performed.
Well they are not hard to find in Wheelers essay he uses several facts to show that schools have been shooters primary targets. Whether the shooter is affiliated with them or not. All shooters want is somewhere they can find essay targets, unarmed student, young children, weaponless teachers. Several school shootings are given in Wheeler’s essay. Wheeler mentions that in April of 2007, thirty – two people were murdered at Virginia Tech. This was not the only shooting wheeler mentions that took place in a school. Buford Furrow’s murderous invasion in August of 1999, took place are the Los Angeles Jewish day-care. Wheeler introduces cases where guns became the hero in what could have ended like many other school shootings do. In 2002, a homicidal Virginia student was stopped for shooting more of his classmates when another student held him at gunpoint. At the Pearl High School, Luke Woodham was stopped, when the schools vice principal, Joel Myrick got his colt .45 out of his truck and pointed it at the young killer. Wheeler states that we had the opportunity to protect our schools when House Bill 1572 was introduced into the legislature. The bill would allow all concealed-carry provisions to be extended onto college campuses. Unfortunately, the bill was denied wheeler says, by a bunch of naysayers, this included the Virginia Tech itself. This just shows that we as citizens had the chance to protect not only ourselves, but our children and we just denied it.
Supporting Point Why should college campuses be any different? They contain the country’s future presidents, senators and judges. They are also one of the most vulnerable places because most colleges don’t allow firearms on campus. The most important factor is that many students don’t pay attention to their surroundings so they are put in dangerous situations and they should be able to defend themselves to a certain extent.
There is a saying that says, “Why fix something that isn’t broke?” In other words, if something is doing good the way it is already then don’t change it. The same applies with concealed gun carry on college campuses. If college campuses have been statistically proven to be one of the safest public places, then why try to fix them by bringing concealed guns into campuses. I believe that there should not be concealed handguns allowed in college campuses because it will make students more unsafe, would make the learning environment in class a very unhealthy experience, and cause trouble for the campus police to spot a real shooter.
David, Skorton “is a professor of medicine” and formerly served as the person in charge of the University of Iowa (628). Him together with Glenn Altschuler, present their ideas against guns on campus in the essay titled “Do We Really Need More Guns on Campus?” Here David, Skorton and Glenn Altschuler declare that “The campus homicide rate is about one death per one million people, compared to fifty-seven deaths per million in the general population” (629).
Gun-control laws are a very controversial topic right now in the U.S., especially when it comes to allowing concealed-carry holders on college campuses. Nevertheless, guns should be permitted for concealed carry on college campuses if the carriers have concealed-carry licenses because mass shootings occur mostly in gun-free zones. There have been many incidents in which concealed-carry holders have disarmed attackers, and concealed-carry holders are overwhelmingly law-abiding citizens. However, the argument’s opponents believe guns should not be allowed on college campuses for various reasons, including: professors might be afraid to issue bad grades, a gun may go off by accident, college
Allowing students and faculty who are licensed to conceal and carry a handgun on campus will result in reduced school shootings and make campuses a safer place to be. The debate remains, will the student who carries a concealed weapon provide protection and deter possible criminal activity or could the well-intended individual escalate an explosive situation, causing more harm. Future statics of criminal activities from the campuses that allow students to carry concealed handguns will be the true test.
Alternatively, the people who believe that concealed weapons should be allowed in college campus state that they are are allowed to because of what the second amendment. The second amendment allows for any resident of the United States to be able to buy and own a concealed weapon of their choice. Students for Concealed Carry state the point that a person should be allowed to own a gun if they wish to be able to feel safe and protect themselves by stating, “Why should a 105-pound woman who is allowed the means to defend herself against a 250-pound would-be rapist outside of campus not be afforded the same right on campus” (647)? Other people also believe that having a gun would be able to deter the shooter. They believe the shooter would be stopped just by the thought of him going to a place filled with guns would trigger feat in their brain and make them rethink that they are about to do. “It’s hard to attain infamy if a concealed handgun license holder ends your shooting spree before it begins” (Students for Concealed Carry 647). The final point most people who are for concealed carry on campus is that they believe they would be able to stop the shooter faster or before he even begins the shoot...
College is seen as the beginning of young adult life, but campus crime can prevent the continuation of that life.Yet, campuses still prohibit students from carrying essential self defense weapons. This is most likely due to their ignorance of the benefits involved with allowing campus carry. Campus carry improves the overall environment of a college and promotes safety. Students should be allowed to carry guns on campus due to the current lack of protection offered through the university and an individual’s lawful right, despite the belief that it would cause an escalation in violent crime.
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. However, on a college campus, the pupils attending are not children anymore; the age range is from 17 to mid 20’s. Therefore they understand the consequences associated to the use of weapons and have gained more maturity. In April 16th, 2007, at Blacksburg, Virginia, there was a shooting rampage enacted by Sung-Hui Cho (23 years, from Centreville, VA) who fired over 170 rounds, killing 32 victims, before taking his own life at the Virginia Tech campus. Colleges and Universities would be a much safer place, for student and teacher, if guns were permitted on campus for self-defense purposes.
Guns should be banned from all college campuses nationwide. Many students, teachers, and college presidents strongly oppose hidden, loaded guns on campuses because it will lead to increased violence, accidental shootings, and the non-carrying public would feel unsafe around the carrying public. If all elementary to high schools have a strict ban on guns for their campuses, it seems logical to extend the ban up to higher education. Now that it is more common for students in high school to take dual classes on a college campus, extending would ensure safety of the minors. Guns have a purpose at other arenas, but on a campus that is intended for learning and education it would be best to keep
College students and staff should have the sense of safety that any other perpetrator has that has instigated in a school shooting. Imagine how safe the school shooters feel when being the one and only person in the entire building who has a gun. The mental state that the school shooter has is clearly not stable. Which brings the argument to this: When allowing concealed carry, why not do a number of back-ground tests, mental tests, and a long process in order to obtain a concealed carry license? Some of these things are already done to people who actually take the concealed carry test, but if a student wants to carry a gun on campus, the student must work for it. Concealed-carry shouldn’t be easy to obtain, but it should be offered at least.
Over the last decade, gun control has been one of the hottest political topics nationwide. Those who support gun control believe that stricter gun laws reduce crime, while opponents of gun control believe that firearms are essential for self-defense. Both sides possess passionate views, and are usually unwilling to compromise their beliefs. What exactly is gun control? Gun control is a series of laws that limit the availability and ownership of privately owned firearms. Cliff Stearns, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, claims that “Our society is a violent society. However, the innocent deserve access to the tools they need to defend themselves.” Gun laws should be relaxed in the United States because the 2nd Amendment prohibits the government from infringing on the right to keep and bear arms, a well-armed general population would deter the government from becoming abusive in the future, and finally, because access to firearms make it easier for people to defend themselves and their families.
In the past years, several schools and college campuses have suffered many shooting attacks, killing innocent people who just want to become professional and finish their careers. Those shooters have been caused by other students that might have personal or mental problems that make them think that they can solve their problems by shooting and killing people. This is why many people are arguing about the second amendment, if guns should be allowed on college campuses. Some arguments are: students are going to be more secure and they will be able to defend themselves in case that someone starts shooting. However, there is also a large amount of people who believe that if guns are allowed on college campuses there would be an increase of