Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

The Right to Bear Arms ... on Campus

I like the right to bear arms.  I will grudgingly agree that some places, such as bars, are places where guns probably shouldn't be.  This bill proposes allowing guns on college campuses.  I think that's a great idea.  It would make school shootings briefer, because one of the armed students or teachers might manage to take out the shooter.  And it might help discourage rape, too.
Tags: education, news, politics
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  • 118 comments
the_vulture

the_vulture

March 17 2011, 20:30:49 UTC 10 years ago

For reasons cited earlier, I feel that guns and young, often drunken, people still learning how to deal with emotional crisis in a mature fashion are a bad mix. You want safer campuses? Get more well-trained security staff. Put more lighting up. Introduce more emergency call points. Heck, I can even understand the worry about campus shooters, so, sure, give the security guards firearms or emergency access to firearms. Letting the kids bring guns to the school to prevent campus shootings is only likely going to result in more campus shootings.

(For those unfamiliar with an emergency call point, at the University of Victoria, these consist of tall, well lit concrete pillars outfitted with a speaker, microphone, and two large buttons. Pressing the green one lets you talk to an information agent ("Where can I find the Phoenix Building from here?"), whilst pressing the red one (much like a fire alarm) gets you a direct connection to the security office.)
ravan

ravan

March 22 2011, 02:05:03 UTC 10 years ago

So, essentially, turn campuses into places where students are "inmates", and only guards are allowed guns.

Why should a college campus be different than a grocery store? Either they are old enough to own a gun, or they aren't.
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

March 22 2011, 02:57:48 UTC 10 years ago

>>So, essentially, turn campuses into places where students are "inmates", and only guards are allowed guns.<<

In fact, there is a whole strong trend of making schools -- including grade schools -- like prisons, with metal detectors, guards (sometimes armed), searches (including patdowns), drug testing, and other things that might be considered detrimental to a positive educational environment. And then people wonder why the dropout rate is going up.
the_vulture

Re: Yes...

the_vulture

March 23 2011, 03:40:10 UTC 10 years ago

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the schools that employ such measures do so because they are in areas with a high incidence of violent crime, including coincidentally, gun crime.

There's just something wrong with the entire situation when anyone feels he or she needs a gun to feel safe, most especially a young person.
the_vulture

the_vulture

March 23 2011, 03:33:04 UTC 10 years ago

I'll refrain from addressing this point using the melodramatic rhetoric.

I'm fine with most folk above the age of 18 owning a firearm for hunting and/or recreational purposes, provided they prove they can safely, responsibly and legally store, use and transport it.

However, I am more than a little concerned with ANYONE, saved trained and certified police or security personel, carrying a loaded weapon in public, most especially if it is concealed.

I live in a country where there is likely more firearms per capita than yours: we've that many hunting enthusiasts. Yet the vast majority of us perceive little need to carry a concealed firearm and those that do, for the most part, are criminals. Furthermore, our gun crime per capita is also lower. What exactly separates Canada from the US, sociologically speaking, that so many of you perceive rational cause to carry concealed firearms?