Guns on College Campuses

Last week the Oregon Court of Appeals made a ruling that allows concealed weapon permit holders to carry on public college campuses. This is not the first ruling of this kind, and the political momentum they are gaining is stirring up much debate.

Those in favor of allowing concealed weapons on college campuses, argue that police cannot be every where at once. When emergency situations arise, like the incident at Virginia Tech in 2007, police response time may not be fast enough to prevent mass casualty, if students, faculty and staff were permitted to carry concealed weapons on campus, they may act as civilian heroes and minimize the casualties. But who is to say that those who are carrying at the time of an attack will have the courage to retaliate or feel a sense of responsibility for those around them and fight instead of running.

Others in favor of this, argue that if potential shooters believe that others on campus may also have guns, they will be fearful of partaking in such violent acts and may think twice about it. Sueng-Hui Cho, the shooter at Virginia Tech, seemed to know ahead of time he would end his massacre by taking his own life. The gunman involved in the Northern Illinois University shootings also committed suicide at the end of his rampage.

The traditionally aged college student (age 18-22) is going threw many development changes. According to Chickering, one of the vital tasks colleges students undertake is learning to manage their emotions. During my time as an Resident Assistant, I worked and lived in a hall that was designed exclusively for freshmen. Drugs and alcohol were not uncommon in our hall. Those in combination with a population of students still struggling to manage their emotions, led to fights and other violent acts occurring. Luckily most of the students involved, were not seriously injured and most were eventually able to use that one time occurrence as a learning experience on how not to manage their emotions.

However, if the drugs, alcohol and untamed emotions combination suddenly included guns, the outcomes might not be the same. Quarrels over how some one's sister was treated might turn into shootings with serious injuries or even death. The frequency in which violent acts occur in residence halls around college campuses might leave institutions in a constant state of mourning tragedies.

Institutions of higher education as hubs where thousands of young adults, all at different stages of development and maturity come to learn. Instead allowing them to weapons into already dicey waters; let's preserve a sense of safety where it is okay to make mistakes without fear of violent attack on our campuses.