Empowering A Responsible America

The gun control dispute has long been a topic of debate. It divides the political platforms of Democrats and Republicans, questions constitutional limits and sets extreme stereotypes of those abiding by their respective stances.

A recent new article caught my eye, when it mentioned that college students are pushing for their schools to allow them to carry guns on campus, saying they should have the right to protect themselves in a situation like the one in which 32 Virginia Tech students and faculty were fatally shot.

The article specifically mentioned, Andrew Dysart, a George Mason University senior who organized a chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, which hopes to persuade legislators to overturn a Virginia law that allows universities to prohibit students, faculty and staff members with gun permits from carrying their weapons onto campus.

Nationwide, 38 states ban weapons at schools, and 16 of those specifically ban guns on college campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Other states allow schools to adopt their own gun policies.

However, Virginia law lets schools decide whether to allow students with concealed-weapons permits to carry their guns on campus. More states should allow academic institutions to decide for themselves whether or not concealed weapons should be permitted on campus.

Nevertheless, many colleges generally oppose allowing guns on campus for safety reasons. Opponents such as, the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, which represents campus public-safety officials, said the presence of students carrying concealed weapons “has the potential to dramatically increase violence on our college and university campuses.” There is no denying that allowing concealed weapons brings the potential for accidental gun discharge or misuse of firearms at parties, including those where alcohol or drugs are used.

But aren’t there beneficial potentials, as well?

According to the Office of Post Secondary Education (www.ope.ed.gov) on campus arrest for 4-Year Public Institutions rise every year. Additionally, illegal weapons possession crimes have risen almost a staggering 65%! The Center for Problem- Orienting Policing (www.popcenter.org) believes (and this blog agrees) that rape is the most common violent crime on American college campuses today. It goes on to say that:

“Researchers believe that college rape prevention programs, including the most widely used ones, are insufficient. Most rapes are unreported, perhaps giving campus administrators and police the false impression that current efforts are adequate. In addition, campus police may be influenced by college administrators who fear that too strong an emphasis on the problem may lead potential students and their parents to believe that rape occurs more often at their college than at others.”

The “Sexual Victimization of College Women,” a research report conducted by the National Institute of Justice wrote an estimated 25% of college women are raped.

In addition, it found that women ages 16 to 24 experience rape at rates four times higher than the assault rate of all women, making the college (and high school) years the most vulnerable for women. College women are more at risk for rape and other forms of sexual assault than women the same age but not in college.

Important to note, is that rape rates vary to some extent by school type of school and region, suggesting that certain schools and certain places within schools are more rape-prone than others. Some features of the college environment–frequent unsupervised parties, easy access to alcohol, single students living on their own, and the availability of private rooms– may contribute to high rape rates of women college students.

So, why allow students to carry guns?

Gun free school zones have proven to be a dangerous delusion that has resulted in people being forced to be victims.

The solution is to empower the most responsible people in America to be intermixed with potential victims so that they might have the opportunity to be the first responders to head off such attacks such as the one at Virginia Tech. Students who have gun permits should be allowed to have their guns on campus, but must register with their campus police, local authorities, state and federal officials.

We have seen that armed civilians, students and staff alike, have been able to get their guns and stop campus killers in the past -- such as in Pearl, Mississippi (1997) and Grundy, Virginia (2002). But in those cases, the heroes had to run to their cars and get their guns and run back to the scene of the crime to stop the killer, losing valuable time.