Concealed Carry On Campus Analysis

Synthesis: Concealed Carry on College Campuses Eliot Spitzer once said, “Yes, people pull the trigger - but guns are the instrument of death. Gun control is necessary, and delay means more death and horror” (Brainyquotes.com). In the United States, the Second Amendment is a largely debated issue affecting everyone. One of the areas where education and the Second Amendment meet is on college campuses. Should concealed carry be allowed on college grounds? Kevin McCarthy, author of “ Guns Will Make Campus Less Safe”, Langston Taylor, author of “ Column: Guns Won’t Make College Campuses Safer”, and David Burnett , author of “ Allow Concealed-Carry on Campus”, share their views on concealed carry on college campus. After reading the opinions from the three articles it is abundantly clear that banning concealed carry on college campus will prevent massacres, higher suicide rates, and not create new dangers for students or faculty. Kevin McCarthy recently wrote an article against universities allowing students to carry concealed weapons on campus called, “McCarthy: Guns Will Make Campus Less Safe”. He states, “70 percent of employees surveyed in a January Kansas Board of Regents survey said guns on campus would negatively impact their teaching.” Kansas will be required to allow students to carry concealed weapons on the first of July in 2017. This law brought a large amount of controversy since it was first recognized a few years ago. He believes college students already make poor decisions with drugs, alcohol, and guns should not be thrown into that mix. It is the authors fear that if this law is implemented college students may become victims of violence off campus and on campus. These statements build his argument to inform the public the only way change to allowing students to conceal weapons is to let the representatives know that this is a bad idea through public peer pressure. The issue of gun control is an emotional issue that needs to be attacked logically and rationally. Langston Taylor wrote an article attacking the permission of guns on a college campus through his article titled, “ Column: Guns Won’t Make College Campuses Safer”. He starts his article with the recent UCLA shooting and states, “ There is always a threat of a mass shooting on a college campus somewhere, sometime, probably soon. However, the sliver of gun deaths on school shootings are shown to support concealed weapons on college campuses. So far in the year 2016, 5,500 people have been shot to death nationwide; however, only 3 deaths on a college campus were from a gun. In all reality campuses are much safer than the rest of the country. Yet, more states are allowing staff visitors and students to carry on school campuses. Taylor believes college campuses need to say gun free. Florida and Georgia both denied the right to carry a weapon on University grounds. Even though guns may protect female students from being sexually assaulted in college, the presence of a …show more content…
Although, many people agree that disarming criminals is the right decision, there is large controversy in how it should be done. Many policies show consistent failure, and only empower criminals to prey upon the law abiding citizens. Burnett makes the statement,“Campuses should allow permit-holders to protect themselves on campus just as much as they do off campus”. The Virginia tech shooter may have become disarmed if one responsible armed citizen could have stopped him. In order to receive a permit for concealed weapons, one must have a federal and state background check along with training and fingerprinting. Concealed carry has increased over the past couple years, and crime has fallen. 49 states guarantee that responsible citizens have access to self-defense options, but laws should be crafted to favor the responsible citizens by allowing concealed carry. Over 200 colleges in 6 states have allowed concealed carry without incident. Until the odds are in favor of the victims, allowing concealed carry should be supported on college …show more content…
Concealed weapons should not be allowed on college campuses. Students who abuse drugs and alcohol should not be given the right to carry on the premises of an institution built on safety and education. This issue is not an emotional decision regarding civil rights, it is a racial decision that should be taken with the utmost