The right to self-defense on college campuses
My friend and fellow YCT activist Laura Elizabeth Morales is quoted in a Marie Claire article about allowing students to carry concealed guns on college campuses. She rightly points out that students are disarmed on campuses. Allowing responsible, licensed students to carry their gun on campus would deter crime and give students a fighting chance the next time some lunatic opens fire.
“Right now, you can bring a gun to the mall but not to school. Having a gun isn’t unsafe; not having one is unsafe. Concealed carry is for law-abiding citizens. To get a permit in Texas, you have to submit your mental-health history and go through 10 hours of safety training. As a girl walking from class at night, I don’t feel safe with just a knife or pepper spray. I’m not sure what I’d do if something bad happened, but I don’t want to be defenseless. Once we get the law passed, I’m going to get my permit and a small Glock that will fit in my purse.”
May 12th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
The notion of allowing students to carry guns on campus to better protect themselves is ludicrous! These students are uninformed as to the facts. They base their so-called evidence on emotion and not factual documentation.
My name is Tom Kane. I am president of The College Safety Zone, http://www.collegesafetyzone.com and author of the book, Protect Yourself at College. I would debate these folks or anyone else who thinks students carrying guns on campus would be safer and help protect their fellow students.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Hey Tom,
Thanks for the comment. A debate actually sounds like a good idea. Have you contacted the leadership of the organization?
As a concealed license holder and a student, I have to say I disagree with your statement that those who support the right to self-defense on campus are uninformed. I go to school in Washington, D.C. in a neighborhood that is relatively high-crime. I am not allowed to carry my gun in the city (yet.) But folks in Virginia, where I live, can carry concealed firearms, or they can wear them openly in plain sight. Why is D.C. is such a violent city, even though handguns are banned? Why aren’t there more gun fatalities in Virginia, since the laws are more liberal there?
May 13th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Hi Tom,
As a female attending grad classes at night in a sketchy area, I definitely have to side with Brendan. Every smart college woman soon learns to be leary about going out at night, whether to the library, cafeteria, class etc. You can not be free without a fighting chance at protecting yourself and most women do not have the muscle or size to have a chance at fending off an attacker without a firearm.
Men need to have the right to protect themselves with firearms if necessary, but they have a much better chance at defending themselves from an attacker without one. To deny firearm rights on campus dispoportionately hurts women.
And the firearm does not even have to be used. If thugs know that someone might be armed they are far less likely to attack them in the first place. The idea of a firearm is a huge deterant.
Peace through strength. Women cannot live free lives without a firearm. There is no substitute.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Tom, thanks for the comment.
The Virginia Tech shootings clearly showed that a deranged gunman can do a great deal of damage in just the few minutes it takes campus police to arrive on the scene. Campus police simply cannot be dispatched in time to stop a madman from taking innocent lives. Only the people at the scene when the shooting starts–the potential victims–have the potential to stop such a shooting rampage before it turns into a bloodbath. A good example of students protecting themselves happened with the UT Austin sniper shootings.
Not all students will carry guns and I don’t advocate that. That being said, CHL holders shouldn’t have their right to carry a firearm abridged just because they’re on campus.
And as a female, I just don’t want to trust my life and safety to a can of seasoning. It can be scary walking late at night from the library to my car and in fact, at the university I just transferred to there was a stabbing recently and the school sent a flier out saying students shouldn’t hurt each other. Empty words like those really don’t do much to make me feel safer.
May 13th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
The Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms.
But further, the ONLY way to prevent catastrophic school gun massacres (now commonplace in our republic) is to make sure that there are lots of armed people.
Without an armed citizenry, one person with a gun can initiate a massacre.
Liberals are foolish dolts, who hate both the Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees.
Lastly, an armed citizenry cannot be tyrannized by the government.
James