In today's society, the topic of guns is at the forefront. These include concealed carry, assault weapons, mass shootings and a plethora of other issues that have yet to be resolved. One has not been spoken of much but shows the biggest discrepancy between the measurable data points and levels of legislation. Being a college student, I do not hear any of my peers speak about this and wonder why. How would the dynamic of every classroom setting change if many of the students were armed? Would students and professors feel safer, or would everyone be on edge because of the mystery of who may or may not be carrying a weapon? The following is my opinion on the issue.
To preface my explanation, I must say that my stance on concealed carry in public and weapons, in general, leans toward the pro-gun side. I fully believe that any law-abiding handgun owner should be able to obtain a concealed carry permit and carry the weapon of their choice in public. That being said, I believe that most government buildings and institutions should ban public weapons on the premises. I do not see any evidence that would convince even myself, as a proud supporter of guns, to possess one on a college campus. I see this as being more problematic than positive.
College campuses are some of the safest places to be in terms of gun violence.
Of course, thanks to the media, many of us have seen the horrific shootings that have happened on college campuses. We think of Virginia Tech and other terrible occurrences. This is not a shot at the media, but obviously, a mass shooting in such an important place is going to draw massive attention. It is a truly silly notion to think that a college campus is a dangerous place where one would need to protect themselves. The fact is that based on data from the US Department of Secondary Education and the US Justice Department, in 2015 the death rate per 100,000 college students by firearm was .093. This isn't even a third of what the death rate was for everyone in the U.S. by firearm in 2015 of roughly .303. This means that being on a college campus was relatively safer than being anywhere else, and does not present a major danger that would force students to need to protect themselves.
Firearms create an unnecessary hostile atmosphere.
Although I am very comfortable with firearms, I would feel uneasy if some of my peers were carrying handguns. I know that many would also feel the same, especially the professors. Although there are many responsible young gun owners, the impulsiveness and often easily angered temperament of many young men and women would cause me to feel less safe than if there were no weapons.
Campuses are well protected by trained officers.
I see many more police officers on my campus here at SIUE than I do anywhere else. As much as it may stink to not get away with speeding or any other small infraction, I feel much safer being in the presence of an officer at almost all times. In addition, the officers that are employed by the university are not "mall cops" or whatever other degrading title that may be placed on them. They are as well equipped as any officer we have in the country and I would trust my life being in their hands if a dangerous situation arose. This is the same at almost all colleges, especially large public institutions where violence is more likely to occur.
Alcohol and guns do not mix.
As funny as it may be to recognize that college students drink like the end of the world is coming, this could prove to be a lethal combo. Just as the legal drinking age is 21, the age to own a pistol and carry a concealed weapon is just the same. Although this has not yet been a problem in the seven states where concealed weapons are allowed on campus, it seems foolish to ignore the fact that some drunken altercations could escalate much quicker.
To reiterate, although I support almost all gun rights movements, and support the carrying of firearms in most cases, I see no reason why they belong in a classroom.
