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If a state allows for guns to be carried in public, I think they should be allowed to carry them on campus. Most people on college campuses (with the exception of a few child prodegies) are consenting to adults. For state schools, they are public places that should have the same freedoms as any other public place. If all the statements about crime not increasing on campuses that do allow guns, then I don't see the downfall. I don't think it would draw more crime to the campus because crime happens everywhere. The people that really want to carry guns will carry regardless of what the law allows.

I know that I would have carried a gun on my campus as it is in Detroit. Not a suburb, but the city. We had our own police department, but they could only do so much to protect students. My girlfriend was held up at gunpoint and a few of my friends were robbed on campus. I think that if they has been able to carry a gun, things would have ended differently. I'm not saying that it would have ended better. The criminal may have seen the gun and shot from fear or protection. Yes, they may have run, but we can't know how things would have turned out. It may just deter them from coming in the first place because there is a chance that their victim has a gun.
I just think that you should be able to carry them in public places. If someone wants to protect themselves, they should be able to.

Interesting topic, I never would have thought about this because my schools have been relatively safe. I had no idea that some schools allow students to carry guns. I think having guns on campus is worse than banning them from campus. There are alternative defense mechanisms besides guns. Pepper spray or mace would suffice. It is easy to use, discreet, and painful. I know quite a few people in my area that carry pepper spray. If you make a mistake with pepper spray, it is not too bad. But if you make a mistake with a gun, you could kill someone.

My father has receive a concealed carry weapon and has said many times "concealed guns allow the good people to have guns as well". I do agree with him for the most part; you do need someone who can fight in a dangerous situation. However, i don't believe a school environment is the right place.

Guns should be under the control of responsible and stable adults, i have no argument here. Nevertheless, are all college students stable? This is a mental and emotional time for a person and even the gentlest person my turn on a seconds notice after a traumatic event, such as a devastating public breakup. If they have a weapon so close and readily, anything can happen, especially with alcohol involved. I just believe that college students, some not all, should not have a gun at this time in their life. It just takes one alcoholic with a gun to kill someone. Also, at this age they have not had time to build a record of crimes, of building a taste to alcohol, so the people assigning the license cant determine who to give the license to or not.

I think guns should not be allowed on campus. My campus has campus police available at every corner from the press of a button. Every bathroom stall has a security button as well. I know this is not the best way to fight crime because if someone has you at gunpoint you probably can't reach for a button, but I think putting guns in the hands of everyone is a recipe for disaster. 

Cjoew has it right. You mix alcohol and emotionally instability with guns and worse things can happen. There was a shooting this past week where the student wanted to get back at the administration for mistreating him. He also was fed up with bullying going on. You can't tell how someone is going to react when they have their face threatened.

I think pulling a gun on someone who has a gun pulled on you could lead to one person being shot. It may not be the innocent person every time, but we can't say that for sure. Keep things the way they are.

I totally oppose the whole guns idea to be on campus and I could care less about the other campuses having them, and the statistics but I don't want to feel intimidated by someone walking around with a guy. Sly remarks can be made and potential threats are all over no matter what. School is a place of higher learning so stop brining all the unneeded things that you'd carry in public outside of school to school. Some things should NOT be allowed. Yes, there are other alternatives besides a gun and if you are that scared that something is going to happen to you re-evaluate yourself. I understand if your school is somewhere where there is a lot of violent things going on on campus but still in that case polices should be around more. I simply can't get to the point of wanting to have them at UCF.

I was completely against any type of weapon on my campus, I would not feel safe being next to an individual with a weapon, I felt that if that individual with a weapon entered an heated agrument or is really pissed of, he/she might just take out his/her gun in a moment of anger and shoot.
It does not settle right with me at all! after reading some stories in the articles you posted about how some crimes could have been stopped if they had a weapon with them, I thought about it, now i would only approve of a weapon (concealed) if the campus was in an area that violence is prominent.
As a lady i would want to feel safe waking from my car to campus even if it was dark out, but if it was in an area known for crimes, then i would feel much better with a gun in my reach. Then again i fear that this might be misused by some students, would they take care of it properly? it's hard to tell.
Thank God i do not have to worry about this on my campus, except for the recent bomb threat (another story).
:)

I see what skywordsee is saying about the alcohol and guns. Those two things do not mix. I think it might be a bad idea to have guns allowed at big party schools. I can just imagine drunk pary goers getting into a scuffle and someone making irrational decisions and whipping out a gun. This would happen. I know it would happen on the campus I went to because there is a lot of fighting over territory and pride.
I also think that the guns would create another issue for the school's public safety department to deal with. They are already outnumbered by a lot of rebellious college students, the last thing we need to do is arm them. lol.

This is a difficult topic; on one hand I feel like if guns are allowed in the state, they should be allowed in the schools because it's like leaving thousands of students defenseless against crazy gunmen(or women!)

But on the other hand, I agree with the other argument against young adults without a fully-developed brain who go to parties and have guns? That sounds dangerous to me.

Maybe they should just adjust their security and make police force stronger and have more presence.

I really can't decide on this one, great topic.

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benyamin Franklin

This is not an issue of whether guns should be on campus, but rather an issue of whether we should give up our constitutional rights in order to make a few paranoid people happy, while simultaneously endangering ourselves.

I see no reason for rational, law abiding citizens to give up their right to bear arms and sacrifice their own safety because a few people are scared of guns.

People are too quick to give up their rights in order to buy some temporary safety, and for that, they deserve neither their liberty, nor that safety. That's not me talking, that is one of the Founding Fathers.

The second amendment enumerates the right to bear arms, and there is no reason that we should give up that right.

The people who are bringing guns onto campus and killing people are not bringing them on legally; they could care less about the law. When those people decide they are going to open fire in a crowded class building, the police are not going to be there that second, they have to be called and then respond. A trained citizen with a weapon can quickly end that threat before a gunman has a chance to kill dozens of people. That is why we have weapons, protection. The sad fact of life is, you need protection. Anyone who thinks otherwise is clearly delusional.

Our gun laws need to be fixed, however. We need to make sure that people who are buying guns are mentally stable, and we need to me sure that people who are going to carry their weapon on campuses are trained in their use. In the olden days, boys were taught how to use a weapon at a very early age and knew how to handle a weapon responsibly before they ever used a weapon; now we are so scared of guns that many people don't know how to use them and are in fact scared of them. If you need any proof of that, look to the comments above.

You can bet your ass that when the bullets start flying, my .45 will be out and that clip will be half empty pretty damn quick. When that crazy person who wanted to kill you is dead rather than yourself, all you have to do is say thank you. Of course, if you would rather be dead because you decided to give up your rights and wait for the cops, by all means, let me know, and I will let them kill you before I stop them.

I agree with Eyeswideshut. People who act reckless with their guns on campus are not partaking in legal activity. I think I would like to carry a gun for my own protection. I don't think I should have to wait for a slow response from authorities when I could fend for myself.

Eyeswideshut brings up the point that I think goes beyond just college campuses. The gun debate has gone on for years, and will persist I believe for many years to come.

The recent tragedy in Oakland caught my eye as well (I had done some work at a small religious college in Oakland and was curious to see if it was the same one, it wasn't), but I personally do not believe that gun-control laws would have changed the outcome of that day. I do not believe that gun-free (or weapon-free for that matter) campuses will make for a safer environment, as those who bring a weapon onto a campus with the intent to do harm clearly has no thoughts on following laws in place to protect people anyway. I few months after I stopped attending a local community college in my area, I received an automated security email warning that a man had been spotted in one of the parking lots menacing another individual with a gun. Assaults with or without weapons have occurred at the college I am currently attending, regardless of police presence.

I also do not believe that gun-control laws invite crime. While the case of Amanda Collins is tragic, I do not believe it was caused by her inability to carry her firearm to class. Crimes like this are often too random to be predicted. One of the reasons why atrocities such as the Columbine Massacre or the shooter at Virginia Tech was so shocking to the people was due to the fact that it was so unexpected. In the Bowling for Columbine documentary, I believe that Marilyn Manson's quote hit the nail on the head. When asked, "If you were to talk directly to the kids at Columbine or the people in that community, what would you say to them if they were here right now?" he responded, "I wouldn't say a single word to them. I would listen to what they have to say, and that's what no one did."

I will clarify that I do not believe that communicating with Amanda Collin's rapist or the Oikos University shooter would have guaranteed that their crimes would have been stopped. However communication can expose red-flags that someone could have spotted as cause for concern.

We cannot predict where crime will occur 100% of the time. We must however do what we can to understand the motivations behind crimes and do what we can to curtail those.

If your not using the gun as a way to get food, or you are not in the position of serving and protect the people of this country, then you are in no positon to have a gun.

Well, eyes, that's all well and good for you, since you're no doubt a perfect shot, but I have reservations about using mental stability as criteria for owning a gun and being able to carry it concealed in public.

Part of the issue with gun-toting vigilantes is that they're not as good with a gun as they think they are. The average man can't even hit the toilet with his piss every time he tries; you think any idiot on campus with a gun will actually be calm enough and cool enough under fire from a criminal to do any good whatsoever? I don't. Just because you have a gun, are psychologically stable, and know how to use said gun doesn't mean you're any good at it, or that you wouldn't panic if the time came to use it. And while YOU, personally might be the epitome of the gun-smart, rifle-toting American, do you truly have so much faith in your fellow man that you believe anyone who legally owns a gun under the parameters you stated is as good with their weapon as you are?

The problem with average Americans carrying concealed weapons isn't that they're mentally unstable. It's not that they don't have the right to protect themselves, and it's not even that they don't know how to use them. The problem is that even people who do know how to use them aren't necessarily any better at doing so than your average bear. So in a situation where you're faced with the need to "protect" yourself or others with a gun, how much good do you think people are going to do? Adding more bullets flying into the fray is only going to pose more problems for more people. If ten people have guns on them when some crazy dude comes in shooting up the classroom, that's at least ten more bullets (assuming they all shoot once) tearing through a large crowd of people who are no doubt panicking.

Frankly, I'd feel safer on campus with one maniac with a gun than ten well-meaning adults carrying theirs legally. People panic, it's human nature, and when you sell a gun to someone - even if there is a mental evaluation - there is absolutely no way to tell if that person will freak when presented with the opportunity or necessity to use it. And even if they don't panic, what happens if they're a bad shot? Eventually you've got a whole bunch of people shooting, and even if they're being judicious about it - that is, being careful not to just let them fly at random - you've still increased the danger exponentially.

Guns on campus - bad idea.

phoebe..i am on the side of eyes as well.

i have always felt that ..everyone deserves the right to bear arms..and to protect their home in matters of defending oneself. (note that i use the word home.) I also think there should be certain rules about obtaining a firearm as well. not just the ten day waiting period in cali...but to be able to pass a firearms course which is actually often provided by the seller in the case of buying NEW guns, not used.

Now, here is the problem with "open" campus. Any person can walk into a building during the day or night and cause mayhem. all of the universities are an open campus that i have ever visitied..though there are all of the rules that must be abided to. And if you look at the rules and regulations..there are probably a few violations that we all have made on the campus we attend.

I have actually been to quite a few campus' in my time..including oikos, and many more uni's in the bay area. I believe all visitors are supposed to actually go to the police office and register. maybe times have changed but i know this is normal. the university haas its own laws that must be followed as i have mentioned.

heres a thought...
what do we do about the schools that have a weapons class?? And that does include sharp shooting. There are competitions where there are skills competitions. i taught a junior olympic gold medalist who represented the czech republic in shooting and accuracy. She knows the difference between right and wrong.
we have the right to protect ourselves..and i draw the line on that. I may not like it..but it is something we have been given as a right.

all we can do is prepare ourselves for idiots that should not have guns. that is all we can do.

=/

dabear

*gn*

this must be dabearbad brain fart day..

mr. nash..

answer to your question?

it does neither.

simply put:

people are going to do what they want to do..whether..or not..there is a ban.

and people will interpret the law as they deem fit. everything is open to interpretation.

=/

dabear

*gn*

Yes, I do believe that people should be allowed to carry guns on campus. They should also be able sell drugs on campus in the bookstore, get rid of campus police and have prostitutes on every corner. Let's just get crazy and have no rules or regulations!
Obviously, I'm kidding. I think allowing people to carry guns on campus would only be adding to problems that already exist. People may carry guns to feel say and for self defense, but on campus there really shouldn't be any situation where a gun would be necessary. I can just imagine all of the drunk college students carrying guns and how many deaths or injuries would be associated with doing so. If safety is the feeling you want, I'd rather see more campus police hired or something along those lines. I don't think having guns on campus would be a very smart decision.

@kschinske: Allowing for concealed carries or lifting bans on weapons on a campus does not inherently mean that many more students will be carrying. As you said, there shouldn't be a circumstance which carrying a gun is necessary, but the events of the past, especially those mentioned by Mr. Nash to open up this discussion show that guns will appear on campus.

What is at stake here is whether or not the students at the respective campuses should be allowed to carry a weapon with the intention of defending themselves. People with the intentions of committing assault, robbery, or other such crimes, clearly have no qualms about breaking those laws, so what will another gun control law do to deter them?

As most colleges are open campuses, visitors are not required to check in with police or other security forces upon entering the campus, so even with campus gun bans in effect, there is very little effective enforcement prior to an incident occurring. Here in the South Bay, a majority of high school campuses are closed, but very few are fenced in. They also do not have the metal detectors prior to entry, so detection would be nearly nil.

Weapon control laws also do not differentiate between conscious decisions and accidents. At my girlfriend's alma mater, a friend of hers, a trained scuba diver, had gone diving over the weekend. Upon returning to school that Monday, he realized he had not fully cleaned out his trunk and his dive knife was still in his trunk. I am not familiar with all the facts of the case, but the short of it is that the knife was discovered or reported, and the teen was suspended. Mind you that this is not because he carried the dive knife on his person, but it resided in the trunk of his car, which was parked on campus.

I personally think a person walking on campus at dark in a seedy college town can carry a gun or a buck knife if that makes them feel safe. But you got to look at this logically. In all the shootings that have happened one person related to the shooting has had the required training to carry a gun. Now if i was a teacher and my students where getting shot at yes i would grab my shotgun or handgun. Whatever. Point being guns save lives. When the concealed carry law passed 40 out of the 50 states accepted it. Crime fell 10% that year! Now in 76 when D.C passed a gun control law murder rate rose 134%. So in essence guns save lives and you can lose lives with guns. You just have to be smart about it. Now I'm doing a speech about gun control if anybody wants to stop by Garden City Kansas Community College I will be there. Thank you.

Adding to my reply. I also think there had to be stricter laws regarding who gets a gun. Like the mental stability of the person, and what their crime record looks like.