Argumentative Essay: Concealed Carry On Campus

The issue of whether or not students and teachers should be allowed to carry guns on campus remains hotly debated in the U.S. Specifically, the campus gun issue, which has legally been christened as ‘concealed campus carry’, has been popularized by the recent heightened incidences of mass shootings that have been reported in various American universities (Hardy, 140). One of the most deadly gun attack targeting a university, which took place in 2007, triggered several states to consider pushing for legislations that would allow teachers and students to carry guns in campuses. So far, more than 20 states have introduced such legislations (DeBrabander, 38). However, concealed carry suffered a serious setback after a former student carried a gun …show more content…
In this case, the belief is that the criminals would target gun free zones where no one will stop them. However, this may not be the case because, based on the current legislative situation, chances of the so-called criminals assessing guns are limited (Hardy, 140). The other argument presented by the pro-campus concealed carry side is that all campus teachers and most of the students are adults, and as such, should be guaranteed the constitutional right to bear arms. The argument behind this view is that a constitutional concealed campus carry should allow all law-abiding citizens to legally bear firearms both for their own security and for the security of others around them. From a critical viewpoint, this argument is invalidated by the fact that, by the virtue of being concealed, the guns are not likely to prevent potential criminals from perpetrating their inhuman missions. According to Bennett et al., (339) anyone who has an intention to hurt a peer, a professor, or an outsider will continue to do so without considering the implications of the existing laws. After all, most incidences of college mass shootings have been perpetrated by individuals who have acquired their guns