Concealed Handguns on Campus????

Concealed Handgun Licensure being brought onto coleege campuses is a topic that affects millions of students and their lives.  Because of the extremity of this subject, many people are scared into jumping into their opinion without first educating themselves.  It is a heavy subject, to be sure, because it does involve so many people and their children.  As with any high profile subject, the people on each side have valid points that everyone should be aware of.

According to the proponents for CHL:

1.  We are not proposing "arming" students on campus.  We are simply allowing those who have already sucessfully completed training and already possess a CHL to continue to do so while on campus.  This includes police, ROTC, and professors. 

2.  Even though the odds are low that it will occur on you campus, you should still be proactive and be able to defend yourself if necessary.  We put fire alarms in our houses to prevent housefires.  We use seatbelts in our cars even though we probably won't wreck on our way to work.  Why should this be any different?

3.  Why would a rule of no guns allowed keep out criminals whose very intent is to break the law?  If a criminal wants to come on campus with a gun, they will do it, whether or not there are signs stating that guns are not allowed.  This actually makes college campuses more attractive to killers because they are easy targets with no means of self-defense.

4.  Any institution who cannot guarantee protection to it's visitors must not deprive those visitors of the ability to protect themselves. 

5.  According to crime statistics and inquiries to campus officials, there hasn’t been a single reported instance of shootouts, accidents or heated confrontations resulting from concealed carry on campus. In fact, Colorado State University’s crime rate has declined steadily since allowing concealed carry. While no one can irrefutably claim this is due to concealed carry, we can at least state with certainty that allowing concealed carry does not increase risks to a campus population and may even help (ConcealedCampus.com, 2011).


6.  There are plenty of crimes on campuses that are not necessarily gun related, but would be prevented by the ability to bear arms.  Currently 9 sexual assults are reported on campuses each day (ConcealedCampus.com).  These might have an opportunity to be prevented if the people who were being assaulted were able to carry a gun in order to protect themselves.


Those who are against CHL's on campus have this to say:

1.   Campus mental health professionals fear guns on campus would lead to an increase in suicides — the second leading cause of death among college students (Wermund, 2011).  To have handguns in easily attainable places, such as college dorm rooms is only giving more access to already unstable students.

2.  Campus police are worried about distinguishing between "the bad actor" and people defending themselves when both have drawn guns (Wermund).  This is a valid argument.  How would the police be able to distinguish one student from another if they both have guns pointed at each other?  What if the hero is then turned into the martyr? 

3.  With combustible materials present in science labs and hospitals across campuses, some have expressed concern that firing a gun in certain places "may have consequences well beyond what one may expect in other environments,(Wermund)."

4. Oklahoma chancellor of higher education Glen Johnston, quote from Yahoo News says, “There is no scenario where allowing concealed weapons on college campuses will do anything other than create a more dangerous environment for students, faculty, staff and visitors (The Tartan, 2011).”

5.  The overall environment is unsafer with a high ratio of guns on campus overall.  There is no reason to put more guns on campus when a campus is statistically a safer place than other well populated areas.  Giving more people access to guns is just adding fuel to a fire.

I have to say, after reading all of the arguments both for and against guns on campus, my mind has been somewhat changed.  The statistics truly show that when concealed guns are prohibited, the crime rate goes up, not down.  It drops significantly when citizens are allowed to carry guns.  If this same idea is applied to college campuses we may actually be safer with more guns on campus.  I don't, however, like the idea of just any Tom, Dick, or Harry to become vigilante gun carriers.  I think that if guns are allowed on campus, those who carry them must not only have a valid CHL, but there should also be new tactical advisory classes specifically for those who intend to carry while on a campus.  We must remember that the first and foremost concern is the safety of ALL students.  Just because the police have a low rate of hitting their targets as well does not mean that we should allow everyone to have a gun.  It is ludicrous to imagine that someone who simply goes to the basic training that is provided for CHL holders can now protect themselves and everyone else on college campuses.  If you intend to become the protector of students and faculty, there should be some sort of extra training required. 

And that's my opinion today!