Weapons in our Schools

Gun violence is a very real issue, and it is one that effects all people with backpacks in tow and pencils in hand, college student’s crisscross campus with stress of acing the test, hardly thinking about their safety. Americans have argued for a long time about laws that would allow professors or students to carry firearms on college campuses. Do gun-control laws on U.S. college campuses reduce violence, or they take weapons from honest citizens while leaving them in the hands of criminals. School shootings have altered American history greatly over the past two decades.

From 1997 to 2007, there have been more than 40 school shootings, resulting in over 70 deaths and many more injuries. Certainly the debate on guns is the most prominent social issue facing the United States today. While homosexuals worry about their right to marry and people of different colors worry about racial bias in the workforce, mothers and fathers worry about the safety of their children. Will they be the next parent called to the morgue to identify their child's bullet ridden body after another school massacre or drive by shooting?

 Every year people are harassed and hurt while on the college campus of their dreams, and because of their defenselessness many of these people will become hospitalized or will end up dead. It is the University or colleges responsibility that everyone on campus is safe and feels safe throughout the college experience; however, there is no possible way to accomplish this with so many students on every campus. According to the Second Amendment it’s the right of the students to be able to defend against any harm that comes, even on college campuses. Schools and Colleges should give their students/Teachers the right to carry a concealed weapon on campus, in order for students to rightly protect themselves.

The Second Amendment should not be taken away from American citizens the minute a student makes a decision to step onto a college campus. No one’s opinion on this issue matters when the fact is that it’s the right of the people to own guns, and carry concealed weapons, and this right should not be taken away for any reason. The Second Amendment in the constitution states “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” ('The Constitution of the United States,' Amendment 2). If the Second amendment is going to be restricted on college campuses, who’s to say the first, or third amendment won’t be taken away, just because certain situations took place, causing some people to feel vulnerable. If this stops now, there is a chance, to get things, back to the way the framers of the constitution envisioned a free country. It all starts with allowing concealed weapons on college campuses and giving students back the right of the free people.

 Anti-gun activist is determined to prove that having guns on campus is not constitutional. Therefore, students on college campuses should not have the right to carry a concealed weapon, because the Second Amendment, does not give the individual the right to own a gun, but for the state militias to own guns, in order for them rise up against the government if it gets to out of control (The Second Amendment & the Right to Bear Arms 04). This conclusion is not wrong, but it is only part of the Amendment, people who choose to ignore the second, part of the amendment miss the framers perspective when it talks about how citizens have a right to own guns in order to be protected and that right should never be taken away. If it is allowed to carry concealed weapons anywhere besides on campus, then it is considered taking away the right of the free people to own gun. There are only a few institutions that completely banned guns everywhere in the United States, at one point colleges were on this list, however since the Virginia Tech shooting people are starting to realize how important it is to be protected for every possibility of danger.

More people are pushing for the right to be protected with concealed carry everywhere; there is no way to predict when a something like mass shooting will occur. Take a look at the history of our country and the role guns have played in it. According to the second amendment gun ownership is perfectly legal and guaranteed as a right. There were and are good reasons for this, luckily they are still practiced today. Back in the day guns used to be for hunting and, on the occasion self-defense. But when the colonists of this country had enough of British rule, they picked up their own personal guns and went to war and the British saw firsthand how powerful the rough band of average American gun owners were. Our forefathers knew that the general population if armed would be key in winning any war, with anyone that posed a threat to their safety.

 This further exemplifies how the 2nd amendment applies to the private use of weapons within the owner’s home and put into use for only self-defense purposes. This still presents a strong compromise between gun rights and gun control alike for it still instills a form of control through boundary restrictions while still enabling a protective force within the owner’s grasp. Furthermore, the mental states of humans have often been left out of any legislative forums when it comes to guns. One of the details that politicians often miss when making gun laws is the mental background of some of the shooters in mass shooting incidents.  There would not be as many school shootings if students were given the right to disarm a potential shooter. Theodor Day a professor explains “Mass public shootings almost exclusively occur in public places where concealed weapons are banned. Permitting concealed weapons on college campuses would reduce the incidence of violence, because concealed weapons permit holders could disarm or disable those who intend to do harm, and protect those that would otherwise become victims” (01). If student were given the right to disarm a predator, there would be less fatal incidents that occur. A lot of the time a person will attack another person if it is guaranteed that person is hopeless to survive and the predator won’t get caught. If this was not so widely known about schools maybe not so many psychological troubled people would be so drawn to this area to target. Look at the patterns if you hear about a mass shooting, ninety-nine percent of the time it will be at a school or some learning environment where no one could have protection. Every mass shooting occurs in the same types of places, gun free zones.

Thirteen people were killed at Columbine High School in 1999, thirty-three died during the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, and twenty-seven people, twenty of whom were children no older than seven, were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 (Kirk). These name only a few of the larger and most well-known school shooting incidences. In total, 297 people have lost their lives due to school-based shootings since 1980 (Kirk). Although this number may be small in comparison to death by guns overall, these instances are completely unwarranted and it is likely that they could have been avoided or at the very least reduced. These people, college and high school students, teachers, and even children, might still be alive today if our society had taken this impending threat more seriously. In order to protect our children, families, and loved ones from the unavoidable dangers of the world we live in it is imperative that we take a fresh and open-minded look at the idea of allowing guns on campuses and other “gun free zones”.

Gun free zones are the most targeted places for mass shootings to occur, schools are on the top of the list. Gun free zones in Idaho consist of “a court house, juvenile detention, prison, jail, and private/ public schools” (Idaho Concealed carry permit Information 01). Out of each of these institutions, public/private schools are the only place where trained officers of the law are making sure everything is consistently secure. This is why schools are targeted so much, if it was a known fact that concealed weapons were allowed on campus, then they would not be such a hot spot for mass shootings, instead it would be a place like any other outside of law enforcement facilities, were anyone could us a concealed weapon in order to be protected, or to protect; and no one would know who was carrying and who wasn’t, but find peace knowing that the chances of someone being able to use a concealed weapon if something were to happen, a lot of people would be safer and would survive. People’s biggest concern is if the learning environment would be in jeopardy, not knowing who is carrying and who isn’t.

A good learning environment is not infringed, by not knowing who is carrying a concealed weapon, and who is not. “Ask anyone in a ‘right to carry’ state when he or she last noticed another person carrying a concealed handgun. The word ‘concealed’ is there for a reason. Concealed handguns would no more distract college students from learning than they currently distract moviegoers from enjoying movies or office workers from doing their jobs” (Common Arguments Against Campus Carry 07). The fact is every place, besides gun free zones, have at least one person is carrying a concealed weapon. Yet no one has a conscious, uneasy feeling about it, because, it is that person’s right to be carrying a concealed weapon. The same concept would apply on college campuses. At first some students may disagree and say it is an uncomfortable situation, however, these same students could care less that is carrying on any other facility outside of campus. Soon the media would calm down, if this was passed and everything would be as normal, the only difference would, be if someone decided to target, a specific college, many people would be able to stand up and protect those with no protection, and disarm any person, who has the intentions of killing hundreds of students, for the sake of being able to go out of this world remembered in history. The only chance anyone has in that situation is concealed gun holders, not concealed pencil holders. In these types of situation, the only option is fight guns with guns.

There have been so many instances were concealed permit holder have disarmed a gunman and saved, potentially, hundreds of people. However, these stories are never covered on the media, because it had a happy ending.  Let’s look at some situations when a law abiding citizen was able to disarm a gunman. “Appalachian School of Law, 2002: Crazed immigrant shoots the dean and a professor, then begins shooting students; as he goes for more ammunition, two armed students point their guns at him, allowing a third to tackle him.

Total dead: Three.       

Santee, Calif., 2001: Student begins shooting his classmates — as well as the “trained campus supervisor”; an off-duty cop who happened to be bringing his daughter to school that day points his gun at the shooter, holding him until more police arrive.

Total dead: Two.

  Pearl High school, Mississippi, 1997:  After shooting several people at his high school, student heads for the junior high school; assistant principal Joel Myrick retrieves a .45 pistol from his car and points it at the gunman’s head, ending the murder spree.

Total dead: Two. Edinboro, Pa., 1998:

A student shoots up a junior high school dance being held at a restaurant; restaurant owner pulls out his shotgun and stops the gunman.

Total dead: One.” (Hemingway 05).

This proves that allowing guns on campus would create a safer environment for all students. Students should not be uneasy about this solution but comforted by the thought that people save lives every day by using a gun to protect and defend. No matter what kind of sweet talk anyone is capable of, no one can use words to get out of a situation such as the Virginia Tech one. When a mass shooting occurs there is only one thing that can stop the shooter, and that is guns. If any officer of the law was asked how to take care of a situation like this, it would be to take down the shooter, to ensure everyone’s safety. Thomas Jefferson sums it nicely “'The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes...

Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man” (Buckeye Firearms Association 06 ).  No concealed weapons holder is looking to go out and shoot whoever gives a dirty look. The only reason anyone gets a concealed weapon is to feel safer, these are not the people looking to be in a gang or find someone to kill, the only purpose for concealed weapon holders is to make sure everyone is safe. Like Thomas Jefferson said it are the laws that forbid carrying of arms that disarm the people that are looking to protect, not the people looking to commit crimes.

If it has come to the point were defending oneself is a crime, then there is no hope. At some point in everyone’s where protection and defense will be the only hope for survival. No one knows when, so to be prepared for every instance is the only way to guarantee safety, even on college campuses. You never know when someone is going to pick this or that class as their target. Being prepared for those situations will save so many people.  The Second amendment and the founding fathers of the United States saw there was a need for the individual to protect oneself. Since that right has been taken away in almost all college campuses, the mass shootings have only gotten worse, and will continue to get worse until concealed weapons are allowed on college campuses. The day they are legalized is the day, when the new generation takes a stand to live in a truly free country.

The 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”  Even with this, there still continues to be a long debated issue of what does this really mean.  I have a 4yr old daughter, and though I would love to say a tragic shooting will never happen at her school...visions of Va. Tech University, Columbine High School and Newtown Elementary School, make this a possibility.  Allowing teachers, students, security personnel to walk freely with concealed weapons, would first guarantee their 2nd Amendment Right is not infringed upon.  With the proper training, the possession of firearms might be able to thwart or significantly reduce the number of injuries and casualties.

Our school zones are becoming war zones because of those who choose to abuse the right to conceal and carry.  We can’t continue to go into battle with the enemy with policies, propaganda and useless rhetoric, we must be prepared to fight and even the playing field.  It is time to take our campus’s back, and make them safe and allow them to carry out their purpose…to educate. Carrying concealed weapons to protect our families and friends, against those who have little to no regard for human life is the smart thing to do.  We keep hearing guns don’t kill people, people kill people…but the weapon of choice for these killing are guns, so let’s strap up and be able to build a credible defense.  Every day, I have hope that a change will come, but I do support and trust concealed weapons carriers to walk the hallways, monitor the grounds, and protect pre-K through college campuses.  A weapon in the hand of someone responsible and dedicated to protecting life, can only benefit and safeguard our loved ones across our communities and neighborhoods across The United States.

 

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