POLL Question...
In light of recent school shootings, which are on the increase, I propose a straw poll here:
Should colleges/universities allow the carry of legally concealed handguns on their campuses in the name of personal safety?
(yes or no)
Leave your answer in the comments section below. If you would like, please defend your answer to enhance the following debate.
-TMS
Should colleges/universities allow the carry of legally concealed handguns on their campuses in the name of personal safety?
(yes or no)
Leave your answer in the comments section below. If you would like, please defend your answer to enhance the following debate.
-TMS
posted by Troy M. Stirman | 5:26 PM
12 Comments:
Unequivocally, YES!
1) The current safety measures are obviously not working
2) Students/Faculty/Staff on college campuses are sitting ducks until one or two armed security guards/police can a) find the perp b)apprehend or stop the perp c)convey innocent bystanders to safety
3) Make no mistake, unfortunately, these incidents WILL continue unless measures are put into place to equalize the situation for all participants. If it's good enough for the general population, it's good enough for our schools and our kids.
4) You can't entrust the lives of 500-50,000 innocents to a handful of trained security or police. The numbers are indefensible- especially where lives are concerned.
Yes. The key word is legally. If these students are legally carring a concealed weapon, they have been trained how to respect and handle that handgun.
You are right, these Incidents will continue. Our children/grandchildren should be allowed to protect themselves and others if need be.
Yes, as long as Ray Nagin is not one of them...
legally, yes.
well, i don't know. cause there are definitely times i want to blow up a certain university. i guess legal firearms are ok. bombs, not so much...
Careful, Biddy. Over-the-top comments about explosives makes the BATFE and Homeland Security very nervous- and could catapult you to the top of their "most interesting persons" list...
-TMS
Being that I am a college instructor I do have an opinion on this! ;)Not to mention it was a discussion in another faculty memeber's office on more than one occasion in the past couple of weeks!
We do not think that our students should be allowed to have weapons on campus... legally concealed or not.. they simply (stereotyping here) do not have the maturity to handle the responsibility. It would make me (and my friends) very nervous to know my students were carrying... especialy in light of all the violence that we have had on campus lately! (and on the other campuses in town... the other schools just don't make the news!)
I do, however, feel that faculty and staff should have the option to carry and that security should be required to carry. (Our current security do not have the ability to protect if something happens, so I kind-of wonder what their purpose is!)
Anyway... I do agree that we are sitting ducks to a certain degree and it doesn't help that all the schools in town recruit kids from cities much larger than ours and bring them here where, in the student's opinion, there is nothing to do! Makes me reconsider handing out failing grades! ;)
Ok... I had another thought... there is definetly a problem on college campuses with communication... if something is happening 3 buildings away, we need a way to communicate that to the faculty and staff quickly so that students don't get hurt. It makes me miss the old tornado warning systems that Abilene used to have!
Another yes here!
There were veterans (perhaps attending on the GI Bill?) at every school I attended (three undergrad/one grad school). A legally-armed veteran in close proximity would have been a comfort, not a threat...
We do have quite a few active duty... not a lot of vets... but, yeah... they would be trained and could handle the pressure! I am sure there are other groups as well that would be able to handle it... it just makes me nervous to even go there!
Answer: Yes, those who have been licensed should be allowed to carry. Colleges could even help employees pay for the license since maintaining one is somewhat expensive.
Comment: Has anyone else noticed that within a few days of the shootings it is always reported that the "shooter was on anti-depressants?"
As to the question of whether students should carry on campus, it must be noted that in Texas- those who apply for this license must be at least 21 years of age. There is a proficiency (writing) test as well as a firearms (shooting) test that must be passed prior to the license being awarded. While the tests aren't difficult, they would "weed out" those who enjoy their Clint Eastwood fantasy of toting a gun around. Besides, a first time applicant will shell out nearly $400 for the privilege of applying.
So, Freshmen and Sophomores (and some Juniors) will have to wait awhile before they qualify.
I didn't realize it was so expensive to carry! My fear would be that if we let students carry legally we would have even more that carried illegally... who knows, I may already have some concealed weapons in my classroom!
As for the anti-depressants report... if you read the side effects of anti-depressants, many say that suicidal thoughts or behaviors are a risks. ANd if you get off of your meds, without weaning off you will experience a magnification of those symptoms. This might explain why the shooting before the most recent one happened... the news kept mentioning how he had quit taking his meds.
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