Concealed Carry on College Campuses:

Concealed Carry on College Campuses:

An Explanation of My Position in Favor of the Bill

My fellow members of the twenty-second congressional district in Texas, I have come to you tonight to explain my position on a peace of legislation that is very important to me -- the recently introduced bill that allows concealed carry permits on college campuses. In light of two of the most devastating and frightening school shootings in the history of this country -- the shooting at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University that occurred last year -- I feel that this is the only way to make college campuses truly safe. By first laying out the facts of my position and then addressing the opposition's argument, I hope to adequately explain why I have chosen to take an affirmative stance on this issue.

After reviewing the appropriate evidence, I remain strongly convinced that allowing conceal and carry permits to extend to college campuses would keep college students, teachers, and all those who have a reason to be on campus safe. While the shooters at both Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University were able to carry out their acts of violence unchecked, I agree with the national approximately 12,000 Students for Concealed Carry on Campus members that believe a citizen with adequate training would have an excellent chance of stopping a shooter before he or she could do much damage (Smalley). I come to this conclusion after realizing that the college campus is an inherently unsafe environment when it comes to shootings, an environment ripe for this kind of tragedy. In fact, because college campuses are often full of green space and include many buildings, it is relatively easy for an emergency to be occurring on one end of campus while the other end of campus is unaware of the tragedy. This situation makes for the possibility that a student or faculty member may inadvertently walk directly into a shooting, creating more casualties (Paulson and Scherer). While changing the environment of the campus would be in opposition to the mood of openness that is so cherished at most universities, prevention is an answer to the problem. University personnel have suggested that determined shooters will always find a way to commit their crimes, but taking preventive measures can protect others from bearing the consequences of those actions (Smalley). A preventative measure that can solve all of these concerns is allowing students and faculty members to carry concealed weapons on campus. This increases the chance that a prepared person with a concealed weapon will be at the right place at the right time. Better than warning and alert systems, this solution does not simply warn others about the incident, but allows for the prevention of violence. And because those who carry concealed weapons are well trained, the solution may also save the shooters' lives. History has shone that most school shooters turn the guns on themselves at the end of their terrific acts of violence. A well-trained citizen with a concealed carry weapon may be able to shoot to injure and not to kill.

Although these facts have served to convince me that this measure is necessary, I understand that it is not easy for some to accept the fact that they or their children may be enrolled in a school where guns are allowed. Some opponents of this legislation may argue that the probability of a school shooting on a college campus is rather rare. Despite the Virginia Tech shootings and the Northern Illinois University shootings that occurred during the same week as several other school shootings, most still do not like to think that a school shooting will occur where they attend, teach, or work. Since 1966, however, nine campuses have found themselves visited by a shooter for a variety of reasons, leaving dozens of students and employees dead. Five out of those nine shootings occurred since 2002 (Timeline). Obviously, the number of shootings on college campuses have been increasing. Furthermore, none can predict where the next act of violence will occur. The students at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University did not know that their safe environment would soon be penetrated by gunfire, nor were these schools more likely to be the scene of a shooting than others. That is to say, I believe students and faculty members have a right to protect themselves no matter where they go to school, and because we can't say what university will be targeted next, it is important that we extend this right to those attending classes or working at universities in this congressional district.

Although Texas would not be the first state to allow concealed carry weapons on college campuses, as it follows Utah in the matter, I have also heard some express that the guns would not help in an emergency shooting situation and that more guns is never a good thing (Smalley). While violence is usually not prescribed as the answer to another violent situation, this circumstance is rather different. Because school officials have noted that those who are driven to open fire on a college campus will find a way to do it one way or another, I feel very strongly that, in this case, guns don't sever as a deterrent or an excellerator of the crime, but only as a method of defense (Paulson and Sherer).

For this reason, I feel that a gun would be beneficial in a situation involving a school shooter on a college campus. Because shooters are likely to find a way to accomplish the shooting regardless of mitigating factors and because the degree of violence that the shooter could cause would be rather monumental, citizens with guns are much more efficient deterrents than negotiators and alarm systems. In the heat of the moment, I feel that a trained citizen with a firearm is likely to spare more lives than negotiators that will probably prove useless and alarms that will only cause more confusion.