Should concealed weapons be allowed on campus.
Ten states, including Oklahoma, currently are considering legislation that would permit people to have guns on college campuses.Oklahoma House Speaker Chris Benge recently said House Bill 2513 would allow 21-year-olds with concealed-carry permits to take weapons onto college campuses.
Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, the author of the measure, said the mass shootings at colleges in Illinois and Virginia prompted his decision to file the bill. But concerned higher education officials have told the speaker they question what would happen if a student who received a bad grade from a professor might be allowed to have a concealed weapon in the classroom.
Give us your opinion on this topic. Follow this link to our opinion poll on concealed weapons on college campuses.
In Colorado, applications for concealed-weapon permits have increased. In 2007, 9,880 people sought permits, compared with 6,649 people in 2006 and 6,670 people in 2005, according to the County Sheriffs of Colorado.
With any crisis, there always seems to be a pendulum reaction. We go from one extreme to another in hope of finding an answer. Sometimes we tend to make the problem the solution. In this case, the proposed solution for guns in the hands of the wrong person at school is putting more guns on campus.
I believe in the right to bear arms, but beefing up campus security and leaving the guns to those in authority seems a better route to take for now. Imagine what could happen if someone decides to use a gun because they were sexually harassed, hazed or told to turn their music down. Campus violence is a complex problem and there is no one-size-fits-all blueprint to resolve it.
Here are some interesting links on the question of allowing conealed carry on campuses.
Students for Concealed Carry On Campus
From Newsweek: More Guns On Campus.
Another Opinion: Concealed carry could have ended VT shooting.
NPR: Arizona Weighs Allowing Concealed Guns on Campus
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Comments
I think it is a good idea, to get your permit u are just as mature as somone who is older if you go through all the training and hassles you are mature enough to protect yourself. Psychological testing lol give me a break
Here is a good article about CCW on campus that dispels some of these notions about the perceived dangers of allowing weapons on campus.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/viewpoints.aspx?articleid=163712&zoneid=35
As if those immature students who might be tempted to pull a gun on a professor that issued a poor grade would somehow only carry a concealed gun if they have a permit. This argument is completely specious. Those immature student’s already carrying guns and emotionally unbalanced are the very reason the rest of us should have the ability to protect ourselves. Denying anyone the right to self defense is tyranny. I bet the occurrence of rape would go down on campuses that allowed concealed carry as well but then there would probably be some professors that would not like that either.
I and a 73yr old retired school supt. I feel that it would be a mistake to allow students to carry guns onto campus because of lack of maturity many. A better suggestion might be to allow the administrative staff along with selected other staff members to carry weapons providing they have training in addition to a “concealed carry training course”. Perhalps psychological testing should be done on those people as well.