Campus Carry Law Research Paper

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August 1st, 2016 marked the first day the campus carry law was put into effect in Texas. The campus carry law basically says that the carrying of concealed handguns will be allowed on campuses just as long as the carrier is a licensed weapon holder in the state of Texas, and twenty one years or older. The campus carry law has had many proponents for and against it, specifically; many students and faculty members have cited their concern and discontent for it. The law goes all the way back to the Virginia Tech massacre of 2007 when Seung Hui Cho opened fire on the Virginia Tech campus brutally killing 33 and injuring 17. The attack left a lasting impact on America as many tried to cope with what had happened; as a result many states began to …show more content…

The main concerns were with safety, as many are apprehensive of accidental shootings as well as the uncertainties of the mental incapabilities of those who will be operating and handling the weapons. In addition, many believe that the campus carry law will have negative effects surrounding the atmosphere of the school, such as students and faculty at the University of Texas at San Antonio. One of the biggest problems or areas of concern is that the school believes that the “Top tier status” of the school might be affected because they believe their safety is threatened leaving a hostile learning environment on campus . Notably, the President of the University, Ricardo Romo, has also stated his discontent as he said that “Campus carry is a distraction from our mission of providing excellence to our students and our community.” (Athey). So, I believe that the campus carry law will have overall negative effects on the learning environment on schools in Texas like the University of Texas at San …show more content…

One of the biggest fears with this idea is the fact that one in four college students suffers from some sort of mental illness like depression or anxiety, as college is a stressful environment for many young people. The burden of doing well in school can cause tension/stress to build up in one's life, sometimes leading some to take drastic measures such as suicide; the third leading cause of death among college students ( Kerr, George) . So, this problem allows for students with mental in capabilities to have the ability to carry out suicide if they desired to do so. One of the many flaws against the campus carry policy is that it does absolutely nothing to combat this issue, similar to the easy ability for people to purchase guns in America. There are not that many precautions or rules that are put into place when it comes to the topic of selling or purchasing of guns because all you really need is to fill out a background check, questionnaire, and provide some sort of identification. More often than not it is easy to pass with these credentials and purchase a weapon, thus making it easy for harm to done. Sometimes if the buyer has severe mental in capabilities the outcome can be detrimental, similar to the Virginia Tech perpetrator who was mentioned earlier. Seung Hui Cho had suffered from selective mutism and severe episodes of

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