Guns On Campus

Words: 1013
Pages: 5

Guns have been a part of my life from the beginning. Some of my favorite memories from those early years are pheasant hunting with my dad, or shooting clay pigeons at the gun range. I was raised to respect guns. To understand what could be done with them and make sure that, under my watch, nothing bad would happen while in possession of one. It is law abiding, responsible citizens like me who are affected by America’s gun laws. Recently states such as Texas and Tennessee have been making policies that are applauded by many, and ridiculed by many others. They are reversing what had been a longstanding precedent of making guns illegal on college campuses. While many believe that legalizing firearms on college campuses is a disastrous idea because …show more content…
There is one side who believe that allowing guns on campus would be putting students in danger, while the other believes that it would protect them. The point against guns on campus is a valid one. According to Jose Auyero, a professor at the University of Texas, the presence of guns on campus, and more importantly, in the classroom, would have a detrimental effect on learning at the university. He backs this up by stating that more guns equal more risk, and that with students “packing heat” classroom debates would be less effective because of students’ fears of violent retaliation in event of a disagreement. Additionally, there is the genuine fear that these guns could fall into the wrong hands. As noted by Auyero, the people who will most likely be carrying these concealed weapons on campus will be a majority male “vigilantes.” The use of the word vigilante by Professor Auyero gives of the connotation of violent individuals who have a disrespect for the law. If this is really the way Auyero feels about some of his students, then of course he would not want them to be armed in his classroom. It is an all too easy image to picture, the young man who has a hair thin temper confronting a classmate on a controversial topic. The direction of the debate would certainly take different directions depending on if the man is armed or not. That is what these professors, including …show more content…
Take Amanda Collins for example. Her case has become a rallying point for campus carry supporters. As Collins writes, “In college eight years ago, I was raped in a parking garage only feet from the campus police office.” She then goes on to explain how she saw the campus cruiser parked for the night, and as the suspect had a gun to her head, she knew that nobody was coming to help her. The hardest part of this story to swallow is the fact that Collins had a concealed carry permit, but the university she attended had a ban on guns. Being the law abiding citizen she was, she left her gun at home. The rapist was eventually caught, and it was discovered that in the time after Collins’ rape he had raped two other women, and murdered a third. The man did not attend the university, and he did not have a concealed carry permit. This means that he was carrying the gun illegally in a gun free zone. If Collins would have had her gun, which she was trained and permitted to use, she not only could have prevented her attack, but the attack of three other women. The fact that this attack was performed by an armed assailant in a gun free zone proves the point that laws do nothing to stop criminals and only turn law abiding citizens into victims. A more high profile example of where guns on campus could have saved lives is the Virginia Tech massacre which occurred in April of 2007. Gunman