2008 Woodie Awards
OUR VIEW: Don't jump the gun
AT ISSUE: Learn all the facts, think about why this concerns you before
Statistics and guns do not mix well.
Ponder this for a second - three-fifths of convicted felons would not "mess around" with a person they thought was packing heat, according to statistics provided by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.
Makes you want to have a gun on you to protect yourself, doesn't it?
But that also means two-fifths of all felons wouldn't care if you had a hand cannon tucked away in your backpack.
If 40 percent of convicts don't care, maybe it's not worth the risk of having a firearm among your textbooks while you walk to your class.
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus has brought this to our attention saying the risk of being mugged or seeing a repeat of the Virginia Tech or Northern Illinois' shootings would diminish if we could carry guns.
At the other end of the barrel is the argument that more guns on campus would mean more gun deaths.
All the arguments and statistics about whether concealed guns should be legally allowed has college students arguing about the possibility of crossfire on campus. And the excess of statistics being fired at us has left us in the crosshairs of confusion.
If we plan to find a solution about the gun debate, we need to filter through the facts we're given.
But more importantly, we need to reflect on one thing: How did we get to the point that we're arguing about whether concealed guns should be allowed on college campuses?
We got here, in part, out of fear.
In less than a year, we saw the horrors of two campus shootings - one was the deadliest shooting in U.S. history - broadcast across the country. The thought of one of our classmates at Ball State being the next Seung-Hui Cho or Steven Kazmierczak shoots shivers down our spines.
Campuses responded by tightening security. No university wanted to be the next to call parents to say their children were killed in a shooting.
One of the solutions that has emerged is to allow guns on campus.
Some like the idea, saying crazed and desperate students would never unload on a campus if they knew their classmates could return fire.
Some hate the idea, saying crazed and desperate students would have an easier time unloading on a campus if they could legally carry their weapons with no one else knowing.
Either way, the response has been because we're afraid of being the next campus to have its own "massacre."
Before deciding if you're for or against carrying concealed weapons on campus, find all the facts - not just the ones you're given. And more importantly, ask why you're so concerned about it.
This solution is going to be a hard target to hit.
Ponder this for a second - three-fifths of convicted felons would not "mess around" with a person they thought was packing heat, according to statistics provided by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.
Makes you want to have a gun on you to protect yourself, doesn't it?
But that also means two-fifths of all felons wouldn't care if you had a hand cannon tucked away in your backpack.
If 40 percent of convicts don't care, maybe it's not worth the risk of having a firearm among your textbooks while you walk to your class.
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus has brought this to our attention saying the risk of being mugged or seeing a repeat of the Virginia Tech or Northern Illinois' shootings would diminish if we could carry guns.
At the other end of the barrel is the argument that more guns on campus would mean more gun deaths.
All the arguments and statistics about whether concealed guns should be legally allowed has college students arguing about the possibility of crossfire on campus. And the excess of statistics being fired at us has left us in the crosshairs of confusion.
If we plan to find a solution about the gun debate, we need to filter through the facts we're given.
But more importantly, we need to reflect on one thing: How did we get to the point that we're arguing about whether concealed guns should be allowed on college campuses?
We got here, in part, out of fear.
In less than a year, we saw the horrors of two campus shootings - one was the deadliest shooting in U.S. history - broadcast across the country. The thought of one of our classmates at Ball State being the next Seung-Hui Cho or Steven Kazmierczak shoots shivers down our spines.
Campuses responded by tightening security. No university wanted to be the next to call parents to say their children were killed in a shooting.
One of the solutions that has emerged is to allow guns on campus.
Some like the idea, saying crazed and desperate students would never unload on a campus if they knew their classmates could return fire.
Some hate the idea, saying crazed and desperate students would have an easier time unloading on a campus if they could legally carry their weapons with no one else knowing.
Either way, the response has been because we're afraid of being the next campus to have its own "massacre."
Before deciding if you're for or against carrying concealed weapons on campus, find all the facts - not just the ones you're given. And more importantly, ask why you're so concerned about it.
This solution is going to be a hard target to hit.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 17
David
posted 10/10/08 @ 10:20 AM EST
After making an argument against allowing concealed firearms on campus, "Jason" gave me this website, telling me to "sift through the facts."
http://www. (Continued…)
Thomas Miller
posted 10/10/08 @ 10:45 AM EST
It seems only logical that people who have gone through the thorough background checks and been entrusted by the city/state to have a concealed carry license, that they be allow to carry their weapons on campus. (Continued…)
James
posted 10/10/08 @ 2:23 PM EST
So Matt, you've been at Ball State for 2 1/2 years and you've never been the victim of a violent crime?
There you have it. I guess that means we can all rest easy knowing that such crime just doesn't exist on college campuses. (Continued…)
Chris H
posted 10/10/08 @ 2:45 PM EST
The way I see things, carry on campus is a terribly minor issue in the grand scheme of things we should address. The chances that any student will be called upon to use his/her concealed carry weapon on campus- especially in a VT situation- are extremely small. (Continued…)
Michael
posted 10/13/08 @ 1:24 AM EST
If so many people that are so gung-ho about carrying guns were about carrying the guns for legitimate safety concerns then that'd be one thing. But so many people want the right to have guns on campus just so they can have one. (Continued…)
Jerod
posted 10/14/08 @ 9:46 AM EST
Michael, your comment is a reflection of your own uninformed bias. I don't know anyone who legally carries a gun because they "want" to. I think we'd all be happier if there were no need for guns period, but that's not the reality of our society and therefore, I want the ability to protect myself and my family if that need arises. (Continued…)
kay sec
posted 10/14/08 @ 12:26 PM EST
If just one or two law-abiding, demonstrably sane citizens who had been scrutinized by Uncle Sam could carry weapons which have been registered to the Nth degree by multiple governmental agencies from the federal level on down to the specific college campus they're on, I wonder if Virginia Tech might have have suffered only 2 or 3 casualties on that terrible day, instead of 32 innocent people at the start of their lives being gunned down. (Continued…)
don't get it
posted 10/14/08 @ 4:23 PM EST
Some of you act like because there is a law prohibiting carrying a concealed weapon on campus, that it's stopping mentally unstable people or criminals from shooting up the place. (Continued…)
jerry
posted 10/15/08 @ 12:22 PM EST
simple solution require everyone to have a gun.
Chris
posted 10/22/08 @ 8:20 PM EST
The only "fact" that needs attention is the second amendment of the United States Constitution.
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