Hypothetically, it’s easy to see how carrying a concealed handgun on a college campus could help with dangerous situations. For example: A student on campus fends off an attack and/or rape because he or she is toting a 9mm. By doing this, the heroic student ended a would-be campus shooting from a crazed and disgruntled assailant. Is this a realistic outcome to these tragic situations? Not likely.
Under the campus carry law, which will go into effect August 2016, anyone who has obtained a concealed handgun license (CHL) will be allowed to carry a gun into state college university buildings. The intent is to make campuses safer by providing students with a means to defend themselves against crime. But having a CHL does not guarantee that an individual also has the knowledge and skills to take control of a crisis situation.
Personally, my concern is that in Texas, to get a concealed handgun license, you do not have to show proficiency in using a weapon.
Let’s first consider the requirements. To obtain a license: one must pay a small fee, be 21-years-old and pass certain background and criminal history checks. In addition, one must complete a 4-6 hour class, a short shooting proficiency test, and also pass a written examination with a score of 70 percent or better.
As CHL holder, I can tell you that the above-mentioned test and qualification process is a joke. Knowing that a person who only received a 70 percent on that exam could also be walking around with a concealed weapon is a very scary thought. More importantly, neither the written exam nor the shooting test provides any assurance that one would know how to react in an emergency situation.
Instead of making our colleges safe, this new law will put students in the midst of unsafe situations for which they have no experience or training. We should leave such efforts to the police. If we need our campuses to be safer, we should invest in additional police security and more training for those individuals.
Schools are supposed to nurture a supportive and educational atmosphere. Permitting concealed weapons on campus will, instead, create a hostile and uncomfortable environment for our student body. The simple fact is that being around guns makes most people very uncomfortable. The majority of college faculty and students around the country have made it very clear that they wish to keep guns off of their campuses.
Would you feel safe knowing that several people around you, who are not likely to have had much experience with weapons, are carrying a gun in their backpack? Would you be as likely to join in on a controversial classroom debate knowing that your classmates, who may have strongly opposed opinions from you, may also have a gun on them? How vulnerable would you feel if you were not yet old enough to obtain the CHL and could not carry a gun to school, yet you knew that so many others could legally be toting a gun through the hallways? Not to mention, with all of these additional weapons on campus, students and faculty run the risk of accidental shootings.
As a licensed gun owner, I would feel more secure if I knew that more advanced certifications were in place for students/faculty wanting to carry a weapon on campus.
In Idaho, a campus-carry law passed in 2014 stated that only those with an enhanced carry and concealed permit, which requires demonstrated competence in marksmanship under the supervised watch of a certified instructor, may carry a concealed weapon on campus. The state also requires everyone who wishes to carry a concealed handgun on campus to speak with an attorney to understand the laws put-forth to carry a concealed firearm on school grounds.
I understand having a means to protect ourselves at our homes; I am a gun owner who would use any force accessible to protect my family. I feel strongly that campus carry would inflict more harm than good because adding more guns to our campus doesn’t stop violence, it just increases the probability of violent acts to occur.
