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Should guns be allowed on college campuses
Why we shouldnt have guns on a college campus
Arguments against permitting guns on college campuses
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In Adam Winklers article “The Guns of Academic” states his point of view on why guns shouldn’t or should be on college or university campuses. He lets his readers know that although he is against guns being on campuses he also list out the pros and cons of owning a gun on campuses. I believe students should not be able to carry guns on college or university campuses. The first reason why I believe guns shouldn’t be allowed because undergraduates are too young to handle firearms responsibly. In the article winkler states that if a student does try to protect themselves against a murder they may or may not be able to aim for the right person and can hit an innocent person “Policemen or other students with guns might not be able to differentiate the gunman”(Winkler 9). In this quote Winkler states that if students who owned guns will be accused of killings even if it wasn’t them because they are the ones who owns guns so they are first accused rather than the ones who don’t own guns. …show more content…
I too agree with college or university professors not wanting students carrying guns on campus because they can be the main target to students who are failing classes and if they have guns they can easily go to their office or classroom and kill them due to a grade disagreement. “ As a professor, I’d feel safer if guns weren’t permitted on campus. I worry more about being the target of a student upset about failing grades than about a mass murder roaming the hallways”( Winkler 6). In this quote a professor explains that they aren’t afraid of a mass murder walking up and down the hallways but they are afraid of being the main target of a mad student who is failing their
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.
When the professor Greg Hampikian decided to write “When may I shoot a student” He was trying express his own opinion to the Idaho State Legislature about the bill that allows for guns to be on the college campus of Boise State University. Greg tells us why he thinks this bill is really not needed by saying “I think we can all agree that guns don’t kill people, people with guns do.” He goes on to make many different examples of how the bill might be misunderstood and why it would be pointless to add the bill that will allow people to have a gun on campus. Greg is wanting to know why the Idaho State Legislature would create a problem when there is not a problem in the first place. Greg goes on being ironic when he is pointing out that the only crime on the campus is when students cheat on a test or experiment with drugs, he even go as far to say that the campus has a murder rate of zero.
Policies were put on campuses to make the environment, classes, and buildings safe and healthy. If people are allowed to walk around with a concealed weapon, the whole atmosphere will be disrupted. Not only would it distract from classes, but like and article “Why Our Campuses Are Safer without Concealed Handguns” written by Students For Gun-Free Schools says “The introduction of handguns on our campuses would inhibit dialogue by creating fear of possible retaliation” (635). This means that not only will the learning of a students be affected, but dialogue between each other as
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.
Why would a student feel the need to carry a concealed weapon on campus? After all they’re headed to a “school” not a war zone. Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin are the only states that allow concealed weapons on campus. Arizona and other states let schools decide the policy on weapons. Many states prohibited concealed weapons on campus which is the right choice. Most colleges who allow their students to carry concealed weapons increase the chances of violence on campus. College students must be unable to carry concealed weapons on
One reason teachers should not be able to carry guns because guns are currently illegal in schools; Guns are illegal because they are dangerous. The Gun Free School Zone Act (GFSZA) is a federal law that was accepted in the United States in 1990. According to the GFSZA, “It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.” In order for teachers to carry guns, we would have to discard this law. Also, the school board would have to create a new policy, allowing teachers to carry guns. Adjusting the rules would be time consuming and confusing. Changing the GFSZA would make students tense and distract children from learning. Citizens from CNN Politics say, “72.4% of educators said they would be unlikely to bring a firearm to school if allowed to do so.” This data shows that the majority of teachers do not even want possession of a gun in the classroom. School officers have the right to carry guns, teachers should just focus on education. Not only does it create a huge responsibility, there would also need to be a large financial investment to supply guns for every school. This money would be hard to come up with, and not everyone is in favor of sacrificing money for firearms.
Secondly, some people believe guns should not be allowed on campus because they may go off by accident. True, a gun may go off by accident, but according to, Students for Concealed Carry, out of 150 college campuses that allow concealed carry, there have been only three accidental discharges (Common). Two of them were by staff and one by a student. All three of the accidental discharges resulted in non-life-threatening discharges in which no one was injured (Common). All three incidents could have been prevented through proper training and practice, such as wearing a
My recently divorced History professor seemed to be in an extremely foul mood one dreary Monday morning. Every move and comment the class made seemed to irritate him more and more. Everyone in the room stopped moving and talking in concern for him, everyone except Josh, who is our class clown. He made the decision to make a comment to our teacher that any other day would have broken the ice and class would have resumed. For some reason, on this particular day it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. My professor looked up from the floor and in a matter of seconds had removed a gun provided to him by the school for protection, from under his jacket, and then shot Josh before anyone could do anything to stop him. Although, this is a story of fiction and never really happened, it could become a headline on the six o’clock news if David McGrath gets his way. He is the author of an article that supports teachers being given loaded weapons for protection in the classroom. To me providing teachers with weapons is a drastic move because the epidemic of school shootings is not as big as McGrath makes it out to be and there are many more sensible solutions that have yet to be explored.
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.
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...
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
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.
Due to the recent disruption of violent crimes on campus, many citizens that are pro-gun activist have suggested that both the students and teachers should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on school campuses. Those who are with guns allowed on school campuses claim that their rights have been violated for the reason that many college campuses refuse to allow weapons of any kind on their property. The Constitution of The United States of America already grants citizens the right to carry guns with them. It is not appropriate for guns to be in a vulnerable area such as a college campus or any University. There are already too many guns available to the public or easy to get any kind of gun, and allowing them on
Just as any other subject, guns being allowed on school campuses has cons and pros. Some pro-arguments are that guns can prevent a slaughter and safe many people’s lives in case someone try to use his/her gun against others. For example, if a person who is in a classroom, knows how to use a gun and also has access to one, if a criminal starts a shooting you can use your gun and shoot against the criminal and safe your life and the others’ lives. This is a great argument to allow arms on schools or public places because it would prevent people’s
There are more accidental deaths due to guns if there are more people carry guns (Thompson, Price, Dake, Teeple, Bassler, Khubchandani, Stratton 2013) In a survey, 95 percent did not support individuals carrying concealed guns on campuses. Teachers and students would not feel safe to give their opinion on a heavily debated topic because it might get someone angry to the point where they pull out their guns. So, individuals would not feel safe giving their opinion or giving out bad grades (Price, Thompson,.. Teeple 2014).