SplAtteR

Meredith McKinney

Mrs. Lisa Huff

AP English 11

6 March 2009

Allowing Concealed Weapons on College Campuses

There is danger all around us, everyday, everywhere.  Why should we expect someone else to protect us?  Shouldn’t we, the students, the teachers, the staff, have the opportunity to protect ourselves?  After all, this is our life, our one life that we have.  I don’t know what you think, but I know that when I go to college, I want to be able to protect myself.  I want the right to carry a concealed weapon on a college campus. 

It is commonly believed that allowing concealed weapons on campus will lead to an increase in violence, but in fact, people who carry concealed weapons are more likely to decrease the violence in an area.  Let’s take a look at the public college campuses of Utah and see if we can counteract the belief that concealed weapons increase violence.  In Utah, there are nine public college campuses located all over the state.  Since these schools began allowing concealed weapons on campus, there have been no “incidents of gun violence (including suicides).”  There have been no “single gun accident[s]” and there have been no “single gun theft[s]” (Common).  These are prime examples of allowing concealed weapons on campuses and the violence NOT increasing.  Despite the fact that allowing concealed weapons on Utah campuses is successful, this does not mean it will work in all other states; however, this is not to say that it will not work either.  No one can predict how other students in other schools will react to this addition on campus.  Of course, if violence does increase on some campuses, at least the innocent students have the right to carry a weapon to protect themselves in the case of an emergency.  That is more than they have now.  There are many civilians that carry concealed weapons all the time.  This act has not led to an increase in violence, so neither should concealed weapons on campus.  According to the Chicago Journal, if the “states without a right-to-carry” had allowed concealed weapons in 1992, “1,500 murders would have been avoided yearly… rapes would have declined by over 4,000, robbery by over 11,000, and aggravated assault by over 60,000″ (Lott).  This impressive data represents cruel crimes-cruel crimes which people might be able to prevent by the simple act of using a concealed weapon.  These perpetrations may not take place on a college campus; maybe they are in a small town, a city, or a village, but after all, isn’t a college campus a little community of its own?  Couldn’t the same crimes people prevent in society by using concealed weapons also be prevented on a college campus?  Crimes on college campuses probably don’t occur as often as they do outside of schools, but the crimes that do occur on campuses could easily be prevented if one person in the crime zone was carrying a concealed weapon.  It only takes one person to change someone’s life.  That person could change it for the better or make it worse.  Putting this into context, a person robbing a school bookstore would make the cashier’s life worse.  However, if the guy shopping for books in the back was carrying a concealed weapon, he could easily defend the cashier and change that person’s life for the better.  Which situation seems to have a happier ending?  Basically, concealed weapons are a good idea to help prevent violence on college campuses.      

Allowing concealed weapons on college campuses is not likely to increase the criminals or the crimes on campuses.  A criminal, according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, is a person “guilty of [a] crime” (Criminal).  A crime is defined as “an act or the commission of an act that is…commanded by a public law.”  Someone who breaks that law is “liable to punishment by that law” (Crime).  In this case, A=B and B=C, therefore, A must =C.  In easier terms, these definitions just warrant the point that criminals don’t follow the law.  That is simply why they go by the name of criminals.  If a law states that students aren’t allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus, what is going to stop a criminal?  They don’t care about breaking the law, so if they really want to bring a weapon on campus, they are going to do just that.  Should law abiding students have to pay the price for those that choose to break the law?  NO!  Students’ lives should not be endangered because they are not allowed to protect themselves.  If students could carry concealed weapons on campus, this dilemma wouldn’t even be an issue.  The innocent students would be able to protect themselves from any criminals that illegally, or maybe even legally, decided to bring a weapon on campus to do someone harm.  Another debatable subject is the fact that many assume murders are caused by gunshot.  They don’t happen as frequently as a person may be led to believe.  Based on the Gun Owners of America’s fact sheet from 2004, more adolescents “are killed playing football than are murdered by guns” (Gun).  If society allows football to be played at college, why can’t we allow concealed weapons?  The weapons seem less fatal, according to the fact sheet.  If college administrators aren’t allowing concealed weapons on campuses because they are worried about murders or suicides, maybe they should take a look at some of the other hazardous activities and surroundings on campuses.  I’m sure if you hit someone hard enough playing football, you could murder them or at least wound them immensely.  What about all of those tall buildings on college campuses?  If someone really wanted to commit suicide, they could just jump off one of those.  They wouldn’t have to use a gun.  It seems to me that having concealed weapons on campus wouldn’t make murders more likely.  It would, however, deter killers.  A killer would not know who to attack because he would not be able to tell the difference between a defense-less victim and a well-armed victim- which obviously causes the killer to lose his upper-hand.  From these analogies, it is apparent that concealed weapons on campuses could reduce the number of students considered victims. 

While allowing concealed weapons on campus does raise some problem issues, the good far outweighs the bad.  Parties are very common on college campuses.  Many parties involve students drinking alcohol or doing drugs.  According to the Brady Campaign’s statistics, “alcohol…’is involved in two thirds of college student suicides, in 90% of campus rapes, and in 95% of the violent crime on campus’” (Brady).  These are very high numbers.  One would think adding guns to this mixture would only lead to a deadly combination.  One might even claim, “If guns are needed then obviously campus security is not performing their duties correctly.”  Although this seems like a logical answer, it is not.  Someone responsible enough to pass all the tests required to carry a concealed weapon is probably not someone who goes out and parties hard on the weekends.  I admit there are probably a few exceptions to this assumption, but for the most part it is a logical conjecture.  Someone might also claim that a person at a college party who is drunk or high might use a stolen weapon to do harm.  If a person like this really wanted to harm someone else, they would have a better chance of stealing a weapon off campus than from a student on campus.  People responsible enough to get a concealed weapons license and go through all the training is probably not going to just leave their weapon lying around in their dorm.  If they don’t actually have it with them, the weapon is most likely in another secure location.    As MSNBC reports, campus police forces are stepping up their game.  Their improvements include “installing brighter lights [and] building observation towers.”  Police officials will also be “attending security summits” (Johnson).  Allowing campus police forces to improve their tactics seems like a fantastic idea, but allowing students to carry concealed weapons of their own would increase the security on campus even more.  Police officials have gone through training, and their job is to protect everyone on campus.  The problem with this is the fact that students on campus greatly out number the police on campus.  If there were to be a crisis on campus, security forces would not be able to provide sufficient security to the students and faculty on campus.  Allowing students to carry their own concealed weapons would allow them to be able to defend themselves and the others around them in the time of an emergency.  The more security on a campus the safer the campus will be.  Although there are some risks to allowing concealed weapons on campus, allowing students to protect themselves is the best way to ensure their personal safety.          

I am just a few years away from college.  When I get there, I don’t want to have to worry about who is going to protect me.  College security is the answer to this right, but can I always depend on them?  There is, however, a simple solution to this problem, allowing college students to carry concealed weapons.  If it is legal in public, then it should be legal on campus.  The right to protect myself, this is the right I am fighting to have.  

Works Cited

Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “No Gun Left Behind.” Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. May 2007. 06 Mar. 2009 <http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/pdf/reports/no-gun-left-behind.pdf>.

“Common Arguements.” ConcealedCampus.org. 2008. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. 06 Mar. 2009 <http://concealedcampus.org/common_arguments.php>.

“Crime.” Merriam-Webster Online. 06 Mar. 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crime>.

“Criminal.” Merriam-Webster Online. 06 Mar. 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criminal>.

Gun Owners Foundation. “GUN CONTROL FACT-SHEET (2004).” Gun Owners of America. Mar. 2004. 06 Mar. 2009 <http://gunowners.org/fs0404.htm>.

Johnson, Alex. “College security tighter, but is it enough?” Msnbc.com. 17 Nov. 2008. 06 Mar. 2009 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27666800/print/1/displaymode/1098/>.

Lott, Jr., John R., and David B. Mustard. “Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns.” Chicago Journals. Jan. 1997. The University of Chicago Law School. 6 Mar. 2009 <http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/467988>.