Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Should guns be allowed in universities?
This topic has come up in the news lately following the most recent college shooting in Virginia. The debate that I have been following in the media pertains to the group of people who think students should be allowed to carry guns to protect themselves in the event of an unforeseen attack. But the problem is how does one know that the students allowed to carry aren't going to use the gun to harm others as well? For example, what if he or she had mental problems that haven't been recorded? Another group of people think students shouldn't be allowed to carry because it's too risky. Another issue is the thought that security guards on campus should be allowed to carry weapons for protection. However, are there enough guards on campuses to thwart a shooting in the event it occurs? The last camp believes that professors should be able to carry guns to protect themselves and others in the event a shooting occurs. There are many issues involved here: laws would have to be changed, certification and background checks would have to be done to ensure the right people get the guns, and a determination of who should carry would have to be resolved. What are your thoughts on this subject?
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9 comments:
I believe it is really tricky trying to decide who gets to have guns on campus or what actually certifies them to have the guns in the first place. Anyone can 'snap' at any moment for reason sometimes unknown; therefore, everyone has some sort of psychological instability. I believe that school officials need to work along with city/county officers to uphold strong security on our campuses. There should not be any reason for a professor to have a gun. Some probably wouldn't know what to do with it during a situation. They would have to be trained to correctly use firearms. Seeing as to how school systems work here in the United States, they would pay for training through our taxes and that would bring about a whole new set of problems. To sum things up: we just need more security on campus.
No guns on campus. I've had 3 nasty problems with students. When I was younger, there was a stalking incident. There was a guy who thought he'd co-teach my class. And the 3rd was an intimidation icident. The guy who wanted to co-teach had to leave the school because even after numerous warnings thought that slander was OK.
I don't mind having armed security personnel outside my door when there's an issue that's not yet resolved.
There are occasionally folks who are a little unbalanced. We have all read about guys who don't understand "no" and come looking for an ex girlfriend or spouse.
I don't believe guns should be allowed on campus unless it's security. I think you'd see a big rise in gun related accidents if that were to happen. I hate guns anyway. I realize they're necessary for law enforcement, etc. But I wouldn't want one in my home. And I certainly would feel less safe walking around school if just anyone could carry a gun.
I do not believe guns are appropriate for any learning environment. I believe the practice of drug free, alcohol free, and gun free universities is suitable. Knowing who has a gun and who does not would be just as simple as our police force knowing who has a gun in a certain community and who does not. They do no know! Having weapons at a university just calls for more problems and raises more gun law issues. It would be a waste of time and more tax dollars the citizens will have to come up with. Basically, if a student, of age, wants to own a gun I am pretty sure they are allowed to live in off campus housing and have a gun. However, I don’t believe there should be any reason for them to carry it on to their campus.
No. No guns on campus. I think that would be ASKING for trouble. Then instead of one person going mad and shooting some people, the whole school would turn into a huge blow-out shooting mad house... A lot more people would lose their lives.
I think that guns should be allowed on campuses. The reason I would like to pass this is because when one thinks about it a person who really wants to shoot up the school will get a gun one way or another and bring it into the school. But think about what that person is thinking when every other student in school was able to carry one and was willing to use it to protect themselves and their fellow classmates. Yes there may be problems trying to pass laws and there will be much debate on who can carry and who can't. But again there is nothing stopping a student from shooting up the school anyways. All you would do by passing this type of law would enforce the school making it a safer place even with all the firearms.
On the issue of the security guards being armed I think that is a yes too. But when you think about every incident of school shootings when was the last time you even saw one of the unarmed security people in the background. The security guards main role is to identify the situation and call the real police. Giving them guns would be helpful but a potential shooter will always avoid the guards just as they always have. So arming the guards will help but would solve no problems in the long run.
Guns shouldn't be allowed in universities. Why would you bring a gun to class? Really those instances that schools gat shot up are so rare, permit guns and see how high school violece goes up. Let a temper flare with a pistol in somones hand. They feel untouchable. You would be asking for problems!
I don't think guns should be allowed in any or around any schools. Only for security guards use. They are there for the students protection. So we do need to respect this. But, I do feel like as the rights that we have as Americans other than doing back ground checks and as long as they pass it we shouldn't be able to tell who or who can't carry a gun!
I don't think guns should be allowed on campus, it open the door for a lot of potential problems. With out proper training in a crisis the gun may be taken and used against the good guy or the handler may be nerves and a lot of inactive people will end up hurt.
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