Debate On Guns In Schools

“More than 150 U.S. college campuses have allowed concealed carry for a combined total of almost 1,500 semesters (spring/fall) over the past twenty years. Not one of these campuses has seen a single resulting act of violence (including threats) or a single resulting suicide attempt” (Campus). The presence of guns on over 150 college campuses has not resulted in any safety problems, and one could even say that the knowledge that guns are present on campuses may have prevented any potential attackers from taking action. By allowing properly trained students and teachers to carry concealed weapons on school campuses, it will help to decrease violence and potentially save lives in the event of an attack.
There are a plethora of events and arguments …show more content…
James MacPherson documents one example of this saying, “Education officials said then and again this session that teachers and other workers at schools should not take on the role of law enforcement and that putting firearms in the hands of teachers and others not adequately trained or prepared to respond to shooting incidents could lead to accidental shootings and could make schools even more dangerous” (MacPherson). When giving a teacher or education official a gun, there are many concerns as to how prepared they would be to actually use it if a situation where it was needed was to occur. A teacher has entered a job to teach, not to take on the role of someone who could possibly have to choose whether or not to end someone’s life. Without the psychological strength and forethought of someone like a police officer, who knew they may someday have to act and has been trained to do so, a teacher with a gun could become a liability and end up causing further endangerment. Many opposers put forth their arguments anonymously on Concealedcampus.org, and some say, “A person could snap and go on a killing spree, that concealed handgun license holders usually spend one day or less training, leaving them incapable of handling the situation, and that the answer to bullets flying is never more bullets flying” (Campus 1). All of these arguments are common arguments against having guns on campus, and each of them address a different area of the problem. If someone who had acquired a concealed handgun legally and then suddenly snapped on campus, then a method of defense would turn into the thing it was intentioned to defend against. An untrained person with a gun on a school campus would potentially make a horrible situation worse, from the accidental shooting of an innocent person to the gun being taken