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Daniel J. Lewis

L. Walkup

Ethics Fri 2-445

29 Oct 2010

Gun Control, Campus Carry.

Should the Right to Personal Protection Remain Banned on College Campuses?

Gun control has been a controversy since before the birth of this great nation. It

was so important that after our separation from England, our first Congressional

Congress in 1789 listed it as the Second Amendment Right and said that “the right of the

people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” (United States). This has since

spawned the debate about the concealed carry of guns on college campuses. This has

resurfaced because of the September 28, 2010 shooting at the University of Texas, Austin

campus where Colton Tooley, a 19-year-old sophomore mathematics major from Austin

fired 10-12 rounds from an AK-47 assault rifle before killing himself in the Library

(Finnegan). The shooting at Northern Illinois University on February 14, 2008 where

Steven Kazmierczak, 27, who was no longer a student at that campus, shot 22 people,

four fatally, then killed himself in a large lecture hall (CNN). Another example cited by

Shapira as the “deadliest shooting rampage in the nation’s history” that happened April

16, 2007, was the massacre at Virginia Tech where Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students,

faculty and staff and left about 30 others injured before turning the gun onto himself

(Shapira).
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Concealed carry of guns by properly licensed persons on college campuses is

strictly about personal protection (self defense) in an environment that is incapable of

providing the proper protection. We know that colleges cannot adequately protect their

students because of a short list of shootings that caught the attention of the national

media, as well as the lesser heard of crimes that are listed in the statistics from the United

States Department of Education. Allowing concealed carry on college campuses not only

protects the carrier on campus, but off campus as well. People who are of legal age and

live on campus cannot carry for personal protection off campus because they will have no

place to legally keep their weapon. Also, with spread out campuses and varying

work/class schedules students that live off campus cannot fully protect themselves

legally.

Concealed carry on campuses is not just for students. It must be allowed for all

faculty and staff as well. There have been numerous incidents of violence that were

strictly against professors or instructors. One case was committed last February when “a

biology professor at the University of Alabama's Huntsville campus was charged with

murder… in the shooting deaths of three fellow biology professors at the

campus”(Rawls). She “opened fire during an afternoon faculty meeting, killing the three

and injuring three other school employees” (Rawls). If the professors had been allowed to

carry guns there might have been only a dead gunman, which would have been justifiable

because he was killed in self defense. There are others, like the incident on August. 15,

1996: “Frederick Martin Davidson, 36, a graduate engineering student at San Diego

State, is defending his thesis before a faculty committee when he pulls out a handgun and

kills three professors”(Associated Press). As well as October 28, 2002: “Failing

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University of Arizona Nursing College student and Gulf War veteran Robert Flores, 40,

walks into an instructor's office and fatally shoots her. A few minutes later, armed with

five guns, he enters one of his nursing classrooms and kills two more of his instructors

before fatally shooting himself” (Associated Press). There are too many more campus

shootings to list.

Concealed carry on campus is not just about the highly publicized mass shootings.

There are murders that happen every year and are only heard of locally. Two Connecticut

examples are the killing at Yale on September 8, 2009, where Raymond Clark III “is

accused of strangling 24-year-old Annie Le, of Placerville, Calif., in September. Le’s

body was found stuffed behind a research lab wall on the day she was supposed to get

married on Long Island” (Middletown). As well as the May 6, 2009 murder at Wesleyan

University, where “Stephen Morgan, 29” is charged with “the killing of 21-year-old

Johanna Justin-Jinich — whom he allegedly shot dead on Wednesday while she was

working at a bookstore cafe near campus” (Fox). These two young women may still be

alive today if concealed carry was allowed. Per Table 2: Crime statistics Reported in

Compliance with the Clery Act, by Type of Crime and Year: 2005-08 there were 174

murders/non-negligent manslaughters “on the 4,314 degree-granting institutions” that

report crime data (USSS 5, 7). There were also 46 negligent manslaughters, 13,842

forcible sex offenses, 222 non-forcible sex offences, 19,900 robberies, 21,675 aggravated

assaults, 137,785 burglaries, 37,910 motor vehicle thefts and 4,045 arsons (USSS 7). If

concealed carry was allowed the perpetrators of these aforementioned incidents might

have taken a moment to think about the possibility of armed resistance before committing

these violent crimes. Criminals know that there are State laws or campus policies that
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prevent potential law abiding victims from being armed to defend themselves. This plays

heavily on their decision of where and who to commit their crimes against. Knowing that

they will face little to no resistance reinforces their decisions to perform their crimes in

the so called safe gun free zones. The people committing these crimes are already

criminals so do you think they are going to obey an imaginary line that they can not cross

with a gun? No. The law abiding citizens are the ones hurt because of the criminals

disregard for state law or college policy. It truly is unfair.

There are many arguments for both the proponents and opponents concerning the

issue of allowing concealed handguns on college campuses. Two of the major contenders

are the non-profit groups Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), supporting,

and the Students for Gun Free Schools (SGFS), opposing. The Students for Gun Free

Schools published an essay titled “Why Our Campuses are Safer without Concealed

Handguns” (Student G 1). They focused on 5 points. Claiming that:

1) Concealed handguns would detract from a healthy learning environment;

2) More guns on campus would create additional risk for students;

3) Shooters would not be deterred by concealed carry permit holders;

4) Concealed carry permit holders are not always “law-abiding” citizens, and

5) Concealed carry permit holders are not required to have law enforcement

training (Student G)

These arguments were all rebutted in the essay published by Students for Concealed

Carry on Campus titled “Why our Campuses are NOT Safer without Concealed

Handguns: Rebutting the Rhetoric of Students for Gun Free Schools” (Students C 1).
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On the first point SFGS claims that “concealed handguns would detract from a

healthy learning environment” because “many students would feel uncomfortable about

not knowing whether their professors and/or fellow students were carrying handguns”

(Students G 1, 2). SCCC argues that it “not only ignores the fact that, in the absence of

metal detectors and X-ray machines at every campus entrance, students already have no

way of knowing who, if anyone, is carrying a gun; it also assumes that students would be

made more uncomfortable by the presence of guns on campus than they are by the

presence of guns off campus” (Students C 2). They also ask the questions “Are they

afraid to walk through crowded shopping malls knowing that one out of every hundred

shoppers they pass is potentially carrying a legally concealed handgun? Or do they go

through their daily routines, both on and off campus, never giving much thought to what

is concealed beneath the clothing and within the handbags of the people they pass”

(Students C 2).

Next the SGFS says that “More guns on campus would create additional risk for

students” citing a “2007 report by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, there

are four reasons why gun violence would be likely to increase if more guns were present

on college campuses: (1) The prevalence of drugs and alcohol; (2) The risk of suicide and

mental health issues; (3) The likelihood of gun thefts, and; (4) An increased risk of

accidental shootings” (Students G 2). These issues were also proven unsubstantiated.

SCCC proved that in (1) “2008 more than 100 university chancellors and college

presidents, recognizing that binge drinking is primarily a problem among students under

the age of 21” (Students C 3). As for the risk of suicide and mental health issues the

SCCC argues that (2) “The overwhelming majority of suicides are committed in the
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victim’s home” (Students C 3). When it comes to the likelihood of gun thefts there “are a

multitude of security options, from floor safes to safes that bolt to bed frames to

community gun lockups” (Students C 3). Finally the SCCC states that “concerns about

accidental discharges are overblown, to say the least. Accidental discharges of concealed

firearms are very rare…and only a small fraction of accidental discharges result in

injury” (Students C 3).

The third point that SGFS makes claims that “Shooters would not be deterred by

concealed carry permit holders” saying that “there is no evidence that suicidal shooters

would be deterred from attacks on college campuses by concealed carry permit holders”

(Students G 3). The SCCC believes “Louisiana State Representative Ernest D. Wooton,

speaking at the 2008 SCCC National Conference in Washington, D.C., “If we don’t try it,

are we going to know?”“ (Students C 4). They go on to say that “though campus shooters

are frequently suicidal, they are not simply suicidal—if they were, they would simply

shoot themselves at home and leave everyone else alone. Campus shooters go on armed

rampages because they misguidedly seek to make a point or attain infamy. It’s hard to

attain infamy if a concealed handgun license holder ends your shooting spree before it

begins” (Students C 4).

The SGFS also believe that 4) “Concealed carry permit holders are not

always “law-abiding” citizens” (Students G 4). They point out that “Two states…do not

even require residents to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon” they also claim

that “A Violence Policy Center study found that Texas concealed handgun license

holders were arrested for weapon-related offenses at a rate 81% higher than the general

population of Texas aged 21 and older” (Students G 4, 5). The SCCC proved that in “a
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comparison of statistics in the mid-nineties…found that Florida concealed handgun

license holders were three times less likely to be arrested than were New York City

police officers” (Students C 5). They also cleared up the twisted statistics stating that

“this study, which took place during the first five years of Texas’s concealed handgun

licensing program, when police officers were not always clear on the new weapons laws

and often took a “better safe than sorry” approach to making arrests, focused solely on

arrests, not convictions. According to Texas Department of Corrections statistics from

that same period of time, Texas concealed handgun license holders were 7.6 times less

likely than non-license holders to be arrested for violent crimes (as opposed to the

weapons crimes—which can include nonviolent offenses such as attempting to carry a

concealed handgun into a federal building—researched by the Violence Policy Center)”

(Students C 6).

The final point that SGFS makes is the fact that “5) Concealed carry

permit holders are not required to have law enforcement training” (Students G 5). They

point out that 2006 study examined three decades of bullet hit rates among larger U.S.

police departments and found that officers hit their targets approximately 20% of the

time”, but go on to show that “New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said…I

think it is a high rate when you consider all of the variables” (Students G 5). They also

claim that “Law enforcement officers responding to such emergencies would also face

enormous difficulties. If police arrived on the scene of a campus shooting and found

multiple students with handguns drawn, how would they know who their target is”

(Students G 6)? The SCCC states that concealed weapons holders “are not law

enforcement officers” and that “concealed handgun license holders don't need to know
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how to drive police cars at high speeds or how to kick down doors or how to conduct

traffic stops or how to make arrests or how to use handcuffs. And concealed handgun

license holders definitely don't need to spend weeks memorizing radio codes and traffic

laws” (Students C 7). As for the percentage of hits by police officers the SFGS essay

“fails to point out is that police officers frequently encounter scenarios that a concealed

handgun license holder would never encounter. License holders do not chase bad guys

down dark alleys or raid drug labs or engage in standoffs with criminals barricaded inside

buildings” (Students C 7). The SCCC also points out “that most shootouts last less than

ten seconds and the fact that the rate of concealed carry among individuals in their

twenties is typically about one half of one percent. How nine seconds of exchanged

gunfire between two armed individuals could possibly lead to greater loss of life than a

nine-minute, uncontested execution-style massacre, such as the one that occurred at

Virginia Tech” (Students C 7). Concealed weapons holders know that they cannot even

draw their weapon until they intend to fire it, so claiming that all the holders will be

running around campus with their guns drawn is ridiculous. The SCCC finishes with

“Most college campuses in America are surrounded by neighborhoods where concealed

handgun license holders, including college students, lawfully carry concealed handguns

at movie theaters, grocery stores, shopping malls, office buildings, restaurants, churches,

banks, etc. Yet, we don’t hear of spates of accidental discharges or alcohol-fueled

shootings by licensees in those places. If the majority of college campuses are safer than

their surrounding areas because they don’t allow concealed carry on campus, why don’t

we see higher crime rates at the twelve U.S. colleges that do allow concealed carry on

campus” (Students C 8)?

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In conclusion I would like to say that I completely support the option for properly

licensed individuals to carry guns on college campus, just like they do anywhere else in

the state. A well used statement really fits the bill here, when you have seconds to live,

the Police are minutes away. The Police rarely stop a crime before it happens. They

primarily investigate the crime after it is committed, but that does not help the victim. To

think that the Police or security can protect you is naïve. It is your duty to protect yourself

and your family first, then those around you second. I know there is very little that will

stop a person set on killing you or others than a surprise bullet from a concealed handgun.

If they want to sneak a gun in and shoot someone they will. Even metal detectors and pat

downs don’t find everything. Also by forcing me into a gun free zone and not providing

adequate protection the colleges of this nation are making us fish in a barrel. Fish cannot

swim away just like we cannot fight off an armed attacker set on killing as many people

as he can. There is a wealth of information on this issue, and both sides make the figures

work with their beliefs. I suggest that you perform your own research because this issue

will be coming to the forefront real soon.