Campus Carry Laws

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Campus Carry Laws

Shootings have become quite rampant in the United States, and the most alarming thing is that there are no comprehensive laws to govern and restrict gun ownership in the country. Buying a gun is as simple as walking into a store and paying in cash with no additional requirements such as background checks. It comes as no surprise that anyone can purchase a gun and walk into the street and start shooting indiscriminately. Mass shootings have become an almost regular part of breaking news headlines. It is shocking that with all the innocent lives claimed by senseless gun violence, there is yet to be a law that severely limits gun ownership. Even more worrisome is the fact that some Americans staunchly stand by the right to own guns, ignoring the danger that comes with it. Schools and colleges are among the most affected public spaces when it comes to gun violence. It is with this situation in mind that the campus carry laws have been put in place in an attempt to restore sanity in school grounds. However, it is still an intense debate on whether or not people should be allowed to carry firearms inside campus, with both sides of the divide giving compelling reasons for their position.

Some of the most horrific killings are the Columbine High School shootings in 1999 that claimed 15 lives, the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings that claimed 32 and most recently in 2018, 17 people died in a Parklands high school. These statistics show that there was an average of one shooting in the year 2018 (Arrigo & Acheson 136). It is clear that schools and colleges are soft targets for crazed shooters, and more needs to be done to protect the young people in our schools. Other public spaces, such as malls and clubs, have also fallen victim to gun violence. This matter is not restricted to the United States only; Britain and New Zealand have also been victims. On the 15th of March 2019, the Christchurch mosque in New Zealand was attacked by a gunman who killed 51 Muslims in prayer at a mosque. The response to the fatal shooting was fast; the country tightened its gun laws and even banned some types of firearms. Sadly, there has been no similarly swift response in amending gun laws in the US despite the high number of shootings.

Different states in the country have different campus carry laws. These laws refer to the permits to carry concealed weapons within campuses. Some colleges allow licensed holders to carry concealed weapons within campus. These states include Idaho, Arkansas, Georgia, Texas and others. Other states allow individual colleges to decide on whether or not to allow weapons within their campuses. Some states impose certain restrictions such as Tennessee allows licensed faculty members to carry their concealed weapons within the campus, but students are not allowed to do the same. In other states, people can keep their arms concealed in their locked cars within the campus.

There are several reasons given in support of the permission to carry weapons within campus. Statistics have shown that students have the highest percentage when it comes to supporting campus carry at 57%. Faculty are less enthusiastic, with only 37% in support, and the least supportive of campus carry are school administrators, only 19% of whom support carrying weapons on campus (Bennett et al. 348). The most prominent reason is that the student and faculty can keep themselves safe in case of any danger. Within the campus, there are many dangers that students face on a daily basis, including rape, assault, and violent robbery and stalking. Some stalkers show up at their target’s doorstep and follow them around. Despite trying all measures including restraining orders, some stalkers will not relent, and most often they will end up hurting their targets, including raping them and even killing them. If the target were allowed to carry their weapons around, they would feel more secure knowing that they can protect themselves in case of anything.

The second argument for campus carry laws is that the right to carry a weapon is enshrined in the constitution. Students and faculty should be able to enjoy the right to carry their concealed weapons even within campus. There is no reason as to why people should be denied their constitutional rights to carry their weapons simply because they happen to be within campus grounds. Before a person is allowed a permit to carry a concealed weapon, they have to be trained; it has been found that permit holders are the most law-abiding and they are therefore unlikely to misuse their guns. Citizens should retain their rights so that they can be able to protect themselves in case of any danger to themselves or other people.

There are many views that oppose the campus carry laws. The first reason is that gun laws in the country are quite lenient, and therefore, anyone can get their hands on a gun. There are no background checks carried out when a person buys a gun. If a student or member of faculty that is mentally ill gets their hands on a weapon, their behaviour is quite unstable, and this puts others around them at risk. The second opposition to campus carry is that accidents from the concealed weapons are quite frequent. A person carrying a concealed weapon can accidentally set their gun off injuring themselves and other people. In addition to this, students and faculty will be quite nervous if they knew that one of the people in their class or grounds had a gun (Proffitt). They cannot predict the behaviour of the weapon holder; therefore, they have to be on high alert all the time. For this reason, students and faculty will not be able to concentrate on their core activity on campus, which is academics. Additionally, college students that want to commit suicide will be more likely to do it if they have firearms within their reach. People who attempt suicide with a gun succeed 85% of the time compared to only 2% who try using a drug overdose.

The third reason critics present against campus carry is that many college students engage in behaviours such as alcohol and drug consumption; these activities make them prone to erratic behaviour. For example, if a drunk student were to walk around campus with a gun in their pocket and get into a confrontation with someone, they are likely to draw their weapon and hurt other people. Handling firearms within the campus is, therefore, more likely to increase tensions rather that defusing tense situations. Another reason against campus carry is that it is very easy for a student’s firearm to be stolen from their dorm (Bouffard et al. 327). Theft within campus is quite prevalent, and this creates the danger of someone accessing guns that belong to others, even licensed owners.

Most of the students in college campuses are quite young, and therefore, they cannot be lawfully permitted to hold firearm permits. For this reason, the argument that a student or faculty member might have prevented the mass shootings of the past by countering the gunman holds no water. In further opposition to campus carry, it is argued that the job of dealing with armed assailants should be left to professionals such as campus police. These police have been trained for months, and hence, they are qualified to deal with such situations (Wilson & Wilson 32). Contrastingly, license firearm holders are only trained for a short period, such as one day. For this reason, they are not equipped to deal with explosive situations such as a shooter on campus.

Both sides of the debate give very valid points. Many students in support of the campus carry insist that being allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus would help them protect themselves. They can be able to fight their attackers on equal grounds. In addition to this, campus carry proponents say that the number of fatalities and injuries from campus shootings would have been significantly reduced if there had been a student or member of faculty who had a gun to retaliate against the gunmen. On the other hand, the arguments against campus carry laws are numerous.

Most states in the country allow campuses to come up with their own policies when it comes to campus carry. Not surprisingly, most of the campuses have chosen a gun-free policy within their grounds. Most of the students on campus are not yet old enough to be permitted to carry concealed weapons. They also engage in alcohol and drug use; thus, most of the time, they are not in a stable frame of mind. If they are allowed to carry a weapon, is it highly likely that accidents will happen that will lead to deaths. In case of any small altercation or argument, a student will be tempted to draw their weapon, and this might result in fatalities. The best course of action is to keep campuses gun-free so that students and faculty can devote their attention and time towards the core business of the campuses, which is imparting knowledge.

Works Cited

Arrigo, Bruce A., and Austin Acheson. “Concealed carry bans and the American college campus: A law, social sciences, and policy perspective.” Contemporary justice review 19.1 (2016): 120-141.

Bennett, Katherine, John Kraft, and Deborah Grubb. “University faculty attitudes toward guns on campus.” Journal of Criminal Justice Education 23.3 (2012): 336-355.

Bouffard, Jeffrey A., et al. “How many more guns? Estimating the effect of allowing licensed concealed handguns on a college campus.” Journal of interpersonal violence 27.2 (2012): 316-343.

Proffitt, Jennifer M., et al. “11 Preventing Violence or Promulgating Fear? ALEC, the NRA, and Guns on Campus.” (2017).

Wilson, Charles P., and Shirley A. Wilson. “Perceived roles of campus law enforcement: A cognitive review of attitudes and beliefs of campus constituents.” Professional Issues in Criminal Justice 6.1 (2011): 29-40.