I am generally an avid supporter of Second Amendment rights. The Constitution explicitly allows for the population to own guns, as they tend to reduce crime and make men feel much more badass.
However, in Texas, a law has been proposed to allow for concealed carry of guns on university campuses. This is an incredibly bad idea, as concealed carry is not only generally unnecessary, but may cause further difficulties beyond that which it was intended to solve. First, let’s get this straight. If a university is privately owned, then it is at the discretion of the university whether or not to allow concealed carry. However, the legislation in Texas concerns public, government-owned universities.
Under this context, it is easy to discern some issues with the arguments proponents make. Most government buildings do not allow firearms inside for public safety and security reasons.
The buildings are owned by the people, and the people often do not want to have a gun in their face while going about public duties.
For the same reasons guns are not allowed in the state capitol or in the airports, they should not be allowed within public universities. These are public places for people to congregate, and it is unfair to ruin them with guns.What good would a gun do on a college campus? The argument being made is that they may prevent another massacre like the one that happened at Virginia Tech.
Allowing concealed carry would certainly not prevent another one; in fact, it might even enhance the risk. Primarily, it would allow a shooter to walk around a building with his gun without looking suspicious.
If a shooter were truly determined, he would not be deterred by the possibility of other students having guns. In fact, he would target those students first.
Despite the name, concealed carry weapons are notoriously easy to detect on a person, unless the carrier has extensive military or police training.
Beyond the fact a concealed carry policy would likely increase the number of deaths in a massacre, there are already policies in place to prevent another Virginia Tech. Nearly all campuses have an emergency notification system, whereas a student may receive an email, text and phone call to alert him that a shooter may be in the vicinity. Lockdown procedures will be initiated quite rapidly, and the shooter will be unable to reach any more students as they are locked in classrooms with barricaded doors. Finally, the police response will be incredibly rapid, with SWAT teams taking down the shooter within minutes of his first shots.
It is far better to have these trained professionals deal with a deranged madman than other students. In the end, despite the second amendment, concealed carry on campuses is an atrociously bad idea.
The public has a right to expect safety when they are in a public place, and a concealed carrier will probably only cause more students to die rather than saving the day.
Systems are already in place to prevent another massacre: Students should worry more about studying for that midterm than whether or not they will be killed in a massacre.
