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David Skorton and Glenn Altschuler wrote “Do We Really Need More Guns on Campus?” The story concentrates on whether or not guns should be allowed at college campuses. Skorton and Altschuler oppose this idea. Many examples are provided on why it is dangerous to allow concealed carry on campus. Some include the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Virginia Tech, and Northern Illinois University. All of the shootings resulted in severe injuries and deaths.
One concern mentioned about guns was the fact that campus police will not know who the shooter is within the chaos of an emergency. In this scenario, all members of the school will be panicking. Students will run in different directions. The officers will not know where to search. Skorton
and Altshuler wrote, “As for the extremely rare case of an active shooter, we shudder at the prospect of campus police, who often do bear arms, rushing into a scene where more than one person is firing a gun” (par. 10). Therefore, instead of helping the victims, officers could potentially do the opposite. They could possibly cause the shooter to get even angrier and put more innocent students in danger if they are not careful.
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.
By appealing to several different views, Wheeler is able to grab every reader’s attention. Using schools as his focus point grabs the reader’s attention on a personal level. A school is a place where your children, your friends, your spouses all could be, and we still aren’t motivated to change our gun control laws. Tragic events do not have to happen like those that occurred at Virginia Tech, The Jewish Day care in Los Angeles, and Pearl High School. Wheeler believes concealed carry should be allowed in every school. Let’s make the students and teachers of these schools and colleges their own heroes. Wheeler says we must embrace all of the varied disciplines contributing to preparedness and response. We must become more willing to be guided and informed of empirical finding. School officials base policies on irrational fears. Wheeler states, “What is actually worse, the fear of what we think might happen, or the massacres that actually did occur?” Wheelers essay is very well thought out and uses fear, credibility, and factual evidence to support his beliefs. My belief is we should allow teachers and students to have guns at schools, as long as they have gone through training to do
In America there is 89 firearms per 100 people (Moore) so it is safe to say most people will come in contact with a firearm in their life time. But when you do will you know how to handle the situation? Guns can be deadly when abused and used incorrectly. There is a way to reduce the unnecessary deaths. Firearm safety is the important piece in reducing the deaths and firearm abuse and it should be made mandatory in schools.
Timothy Wheeler, talks about how guns can save lives in his essay “There’s A Reason They Choose Schools”. Wheeler writes that shooters choose schools because of the rules that are placed on campuses. Wheeler’s writes, “[t]he only solution is a prepared and brave defender with the proper lifesaving tool- and gun” (Wheeler, 657). But if everyone has a gun and a shooter comes into a college campus everyone will have a gun out. This means that when the police show up they will not know
If there is a shooter inside the school campus then students will take out their guns too and start shooting at the target. Then when the campus police go to the scene they will not know who the real target is. Cops are trained to take out whoever may be a danger to someone else or to them. If they don’t know who the real target is then there will be many mistaken shots by the cops. According to “Why Our Campuses Are Safer Without Concealed Handguns”, “The campus police said that the probability would have been high that anyone emerging from a classroom at Norris Hall holding a gun would have been shot”
One of those ways is accidental shooting. Guns on campus may lead to accidental shootings. Not every student is a professional gun handler who knows how to use a gun. Accidental shootings are very common because people lack the basic gun training. “The potential for accidental discharge or misuse of firearms at on-campus or off-campus parties where large numbers of students are gathered or at student gatherings where alcohol or drugs are being consumed, as well as the potential for guns to be used as a means to settle disputes between or among students. There is also a real concern that campus police officers responding to a situation involving an active shooter may not be
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
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.
One of the common arguments is that there is a higher suicide risk. People think that students would shoot themselves on campus because they had easier access to a gun. Another reason people state that concealed carry on campus is a bad idea is because they think that it would be a distraction to the other students. Anti-gun citizens have the idea that if a student or staff member has a gun on their hip the students will be unable to focus and thus won’t be able to be successful in their studies. “Public safety should be left to professionally qualified police officers, not private citizens with little or no expert training” (Procon). People think that police are more capable of protecting the people because they have to go through the academy and have extensive training. “A Taser is as effective as a handgun against an armed assailant” (Common Arguments). Another explanation people have is that if someone is firing a firearm the best solution is not firing back. They think that the more bullets that are fired the more chance of innocent people being injured. Would police be able to identify an active shooter from an armed and helping citizen? These people that worry this is because they are afraid that the police would shoot and hurt an innocent
Concealed weapons in college campus’s have been a big issue since the mass shootings in Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois Universities. Allowing for guns to be allowed in college campus’s would be a bad thing to do since it would create additional risks for students, even if weapons were allowed it wouldn’t deter the shooter, and it would detract from a healthy learning environment. So far there is only five states , Colorado, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin, that allow “concealed carry” at school campus.
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.
Although most security measures passively make schools safer, it is not nearly enough to prevent an individual who intends on creating mass violence from completing his or her task. State representatives, national organizations, school staff, and parents need to come together to figure out the most reliable ways to prevent an active shooter situation from occurring in their schools. One solution that has been active is many schools have partnered with local law enforcement agencies to provide a police officers to patrol school grounds....
Due to the current mayhem of sudden violence on campuses, many pro-gun activists have agreed that, not only professors, but students also should be allowed to carry guns on campuses. The Bill of Rights states that American people have the right to bear arms. That should be sacred to the people of America instead of infringed or taken away. But what cost comes to those who have committed violent crimes or have been suicidal? According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, in 2010 6,300 out of 100,000 people were harmed due to self-inflicted injury with firearms. That leaves roughly 93, 700 people that did not use guns for self harm (5). The articles also say that 16,000 out of 100,000 were used for homicide in the year of 2012 (83). College students should be allowed to feel safe and protected, but only after being given a large number of tests.
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
“That could never happen in my school.” This is one of the first thoughts that goes through a students mind when they hear about a school shooting. The fact is though, it can. School shootings can happen at any school at any time. Lack of security is only a small part of the problem. The major issue lies in the low morality of students and warning signs overlooked by administration.