Campus Carry At approximately 11:19 am on April 20, 1999 two students from Columbine High School opened fire on their classmates, killing 13 and wounding 20 others. If those students who were killed, wounded, or even part of the tragedy were armed would there have been less deaths? Or even no deaths? We will never know the answers to those questions, but some believe allowing campus carry will decrease the deaths in school shootings as well as allow people to practice their second amendment right. Others claim allowing campus carry is creating an unsafe environment and will be difficult to control. Whatever your opinion on the subject may be Texas has passed new legislation that will allow the carry of loaded and concealed weapons during the fall of 2016 and public Texas Universities and fall of 2017 for Texas Community colleges. In a …show more content…
Many people claim that the rights to bare arms is open to interpretation, but no matter your interpretation of the law it is stated in plain english: “right to bare arms”. As in right to protect ones self. Actually the amendment goes as far as “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”. During the revolution many of our founding fathers feared a tyrannical government that would infringe on the “original right to self defense”. Fast forward to the present and granted we have had extreme weaponry advancements that they would have never of foreseen that the does not change the fact that we have the right to defend our selves wether it be an AR 15 or a slingshot. By Texas law passing this new SB 11 legislation they are merely following the constitution and any university who does not allow concealed weapons is infringing their students and faculty second amendments
Guns and schools just don’t mix. Of course, this could be arguable from both sides. Only nine out of our fifty states allow guns on campus. Most private universities have the choice to decide if they want to allow concealed weapons on campuses. As for public institutions with the law in its state, they have no choice. Public institutions only have control of what buildings are limited. There are numerous reasons that it could be beneficial, but it can also be a complete catastrophe just waiting to happen. In today’s society, people feel the need to be more protected because of what’s going on in the world. There have been many reported incidents in regards to guns being abused on school grounds. Guns end lives, so it’s imperative that we understand the rules and why they’re so important. In order for people to really understand the pros and cons of having guns on campus, they first must began to understand its safety hazards, retaliation and prevention mechanism.
Many students and faculty members fear that allowing weapons on campus may cause tension and hostility or even cause minor situations to rapidly escalate. Others feel as if open carry on campus is missing link to reducing the number of school shootings across the country. When it comes to allowing firearms on campus, some of the most important factors to consider are: how active shooter situations will be handled, why it is important to be on alert, and should first responders be the only one responsible campus safety.
controlled on each campus throughout the state. The University of Texas in Austin is one of the universities that is required to comply with the new regulation. After reading some articles discussing Campus Carry, I realized there were compelling arguments in support of and in opposition to this expansion of gun rights. While some students support Campus Carry, others are quite concerned and feel that it may very well threaten their safety. In this essay, I will analyze the arguments made in support and opposition to the law, how the law may affect the students and faculty on campus, and provide alternate solutions which could provide the desired result.
Is campus carry truly effective in decreasing gun violence on campus? Or does it, instead, pose a threat to students and faculty? The campus carry law refers to the policies that allow appropriately licensed students and faculty to carry a handgun on campus as long as the gun is hidden from sight. Several states, including Texas, have passed concealed carry; as a result, polarizing debates have ensued over the effectiveness of the law. Shootings have been occurring at institutions of higher education since the early 20th century (Cobb 35). The first incident of campus shooting occurred at the University of Texas in 1966, by a student named Charles Whitman. Since then, there has been several other university shootings, and they have become more frequent within the last two decades. As a result of this, as well as other shooting incidents such as, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Oregon Mall, and Aurora movie theater, in recent years, the debate over allowing concealed carry on campus has gained a lot of momentum with very conflicting opinions. Proponents of concealed carry consider it to be the best answer to decrease the injuries and casualties of a gun related incident, while opponents consider allowing firearms on campus a threat to the safety of campus constituents. Agreeing with opponents of campus carry, I believe by allowing the concealed carry of firearms on campus, we are potentially compromising the safety of students and faculty, thus universities should push for
The first arguement for concealed guns on campus comes from insiderhighered.com written by Kaitlin Mulhere. She states that so far eleven states are discussing on being able to carry a concealed gun on campus. There has been at least one bill that has been suggested in about half of the fifty states within past few years for guns on campus. So far, seven states have made laws allowing guns on campus. Kaitlin says that there are two views on the issue. One being that it is a constitutional right for one to be able to carry a gun. The second being that it will make campuses safer from shooters and other criminals. It was brought up in the beginning that armed people on campus could commit a mass shooting which worried many people. Kaitlin
The right to bear arms is a very important right to some Americans. This right gives Americans the right to protect themselves if they need to at any time. While some people agree that this is a right everyone deserves, it can create controversy in some circumstances. One of these places where open carry causes controversy is in the school system. With news about gun violence at various school locations throughout the country, it is only natural for people to feel uncomfortable about the situation. Especially if the open carry law goes into effect on the anniversary of a school shooting. Texas’ new campus carry law went into effect fifty years after the shooting at the University of Texas at Austin. Texas’ new campus carry law will cause more harm than good because it can make some people uncomfortable due to the fear of a domestic shooter and the fact that this law goes into effect at universities after the fiftieth anniversary of the shooting at the University of Texas at Austin.
On April 16th 2007 at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a student with psychological problems began a two hour killing spree that left 33 dead (Reader). The massacre that occurred at this school is now the worst recorded incident in the history of the United States and eclipses the University of Texas massacre of 1966. In the wake of tragedies like these, students, teachers and administrators propose more measures to make us feel safe on campus. But why weren't these measures in place before? School administrators and police have a responsibility to protect their students and faculty on campus, and these instances clearly shown a lack of fulfilling that responsibility. And yet several campus' refuse to allow law-abiding and
Gun control on campuses all across the United States of America has been a controversial and popular debate topic for me ever since I woke up one morning on April 20, 1999 and witnessed, what at that time was the deadliest campus shooting in our history, at that time. Obviously I am talking about the shooting that occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado where Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris attacked their school and opened fire on helpless students, brutally murdering 12 students, a teacher, and then killing themselves. I may have been young at the time of the shooting, but it definitely was my first interaction with deadly violence in a campus setting and opened my eyes to the harsh reality of how crazy our world can be at
There is much controversy over whether or not students should be able to bring guns on college campuses. The new law, to be implemented in the year of 2016, gives students ages 21 or older to carry concealed weapons on campus. The thought of the new law puts fear in the hearts of some Americans when thinking about the safety of themselves or loved ones. While the bill has been passed, allowing guns onto a college campus should not be allowed.
The campus carry bill is a controversial bill that has been passed in many states and in August 2016 it will be enforced in Texas. States like Colorado, Idaho, Kansas and Mississippi have all approved the bill allowing private colleges to follow the law or not, however public colleges are only allowed to choose areas on campus that will be gun-free. The campus carry bill states, individuals 21 years of age, which obtain a handgun license, will be able to carry a gun on campus. The idea of the campus carry bill is to increase the people’s safety and decrease the number of mass shootings and other cases in the United States. There have been many questions brought up by both sides of the issue; there are many pros and cons on the issue that will go into effect with the campus carry bill. Twenty States in the Unites States have prohibited the law for carrying concealed guns on campus, but many others will be passing the bill to give students the right to carry a gun on campus.
The arguments against open carry on campus follow the same lines as arguments against concealed carry on campus. Since open carry as a whole is a relatively new subject in the debate about gun control, the statistics used will have to be from the concealed carry studies. While these are two different things, they are fundamentally the same. The major arguments are that it will increase crime, that the gun could go off on accident and injure someone, a person could also snap and go on a killing spree, and that there is no need for guns as police already carry and protect the school. The first argument to look at is that it will increase the crime rate on campus and in the surrounding areas. According to a peer-reviewed study in the Econ Journal Watch, “shall issue” laws saw an increase in aggravated assaults between 1977 and 2006. A paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research also found, between 1977 and 2010, an increase of 2% in murder rates in “shall issue” states. Criminals are more likely to carry a gun when they think a potential victim could have one. This is according to a survey of incarcerated felons by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research in which 75% of the felons agreed with this mentality.
Governor Greg Abbott plans to sign into law two bills that will expand the rights of
I feel like there's nothing wrong with having protection, but it's how you use your protection that determines weather or not it should be legal. Me personally would say that the open carry law should be legal because there's so much happening especially murders, and robberies. People of the United States need protection at least to carry around with them because you never know what can happen especially at night time. Now I don’t condone in people just using their protection to go wild with their weapon and shooting people with no reason behind it, but what I do know is that I want a gun of my own when I am old enough to purchase one just for protection, and to protect my future family. The new year brought a new law that's generated a lot of heat in Texas the open carry law of handguns. In Texas you can now openly carry a handgun in a hip or shoulder holster. You don’t need to conceal a gun like you did in the past. In Texas in order to openly carry a gun, you have to have a concealed- handgun license. You have to at least be 21 or older. You also have to complete classroom training and pass a shooting test. You have
The new legislature that recently passed in Texas allows gun owners who are licensed to conceal carry (C.C. for short) the ability to have their concealed gun on their person while they are on the college campus including the ability to carry indoors. There are many concerns regarding gun laws, safety, and control that are making their way into the spotlight as a result of these new laws for gun owners. Given the fact that the right to carry a weapon is purely for protection of yourself, your family and your community there is no reason that guns should be restricted from being carried in any given environment, however there is good reason to place restrictions on who might be able to obtain one. Many of the concerns surrounding gun safety revolve around a number of statistics that are used by different groups in order to fuel their individual agendas. My intention here is to look at the laws and restrictions in Texas and to compare the rates of gun violence (including murder, suicide and accidents) to other states and countries in order to show you as a reader how responsible gun usage is a benefit to the community as well as to the individual and should be encouraged more than it is feared because it ensures not just personal safety, but the safety and liberty of our nation.
In the recent campus attack at Ohio State University on Monday, November 28th, the killer was able to attack eleven people, however if concealed carry was allowed to the students at Ohio State, it is all possible that the attacker could have been stopped before hurting anybody (Grinberg, para. 2). Campus shootings are becoming increasingly more common and more violent in the recent years. In response to these campus attacks, an increasing portion of the American population are beginning to support the Campus Carry Act, so that more responsible people have access to firearms to save innocent civilians in the case of another campus shooting. Campus Carry should be enacted because permit holders are statistically proven to be the most law abiding demographic in America, surpassing even the police. Concealed handguns do in fact deter crime from happening because the more people that have concealed weapons, the less likely it is that someone will attack there. Responsible citizens that have abided by the law their entire lives, should have the right to arm themselves in case they are put in danger.