Guns on campus have been a big issue since the Columbine shooting in the early '90s. However, more recent events such as Virginia Tech have made college students speak out against the idea of fellow students carrying concealed weapons into classrooms. The issue has created a strong divide in America.

As a college student that has watched the aftermath of several shootings over the years as well as acts of terror across the country, I believe it should be allowed for a student on campus to carry a concealed weapon. I understand that anyone with a gun could start shooting up the school, however, one student could put an end to the massacre taking place in their classroom. The national organization Students for Concealed Carry have responded recently to those who argue against guns within the argument that violence increases as a result of legalizing concealed carry.

No state has seen a resulting increase in gun violence as a result of legalizing concealed carry (all 50 states now allow some form of concealed carry), despite the fact that licensed citizens regularly carry concealed handguns in places like office buildings, movie theaters, grocery stores, shopping malls, restaurants, churches and banks. Virtually every peer-reviewed study on the subject, including studies by the National Academy of Sciences* and the Harvard Injury Control Research Center**, has concluded that there is no evidence that licensed concealed carry leads to an increase in either violent crime or gun deaths.

The University of South Florida currently allows guns inside student vehicles, which could still lead to someone shooting up an area where students gather including the area around the Sun Dome. I have yet to hear a reasonable argument to not allow guns on campus. Everyone has a right to “bear arms” wherever they are. As someone who has a conceal-carry, it seems ridiculous that you have to pretty much “surrender” your weapon to the trunk of your car before entering a USF classroom. I prefer a glock over a can of pepper spray. If you’re going to attempt to use a defense spray to defend yourself against an armed assailant, you’d better hope you bought one of the concentrated formulas that doesn’t take 10 to 15 seconds to begin working. You’d also better hope that the assailant is standing in close proximity to you and that you are in a well-ventilated location where you won’t find yourself overcome by the effects of the spray before you can escape to safety. Like handguns, defense sprays are banned on most college campuses.

In 2015, Union secretary Greg McColm said that with students already facing problems with alcohol, suicide and sexual and nonsexual bullying and abuse, adding guns to the mix would be dangerous. Studies* show that 90 percent suicides are committed in the home. Because most college students over the age of 21 (the minimum age to obtain a concealed handgun license in most states) live off campus, allowing concealed carry on college campuses would have very little impact on the ability of college students to possess firearms in their homes and, therefore, little to no impact on the overall number of suicides by college students.