Photo by Andrew Hyde, via flickr
Adrianne Richardson/Contributing Writer
“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”
This slogan, commonly attributed to the National Rifle Association (NRA), is one of the most renowned when it comes to defending the Second Amendment right to possess a gun.
Photo by Andrew Hyde, via flickr
In Texas, the state Senate has taken the defending of gun possession to a whole new level by bringing the Second Amendment to college campuses, in turn allowing students to exercise their right as well.
Apparently, Texas believes that there is a reason for college students to have the need of a gun on campus, having passed the SB 1907 law that allows college students to keep a gun in their car.
According to Red Alert Politics, students with a license to carry a concealed weapon will be allowed to have their gun in the car; this keeps colleges from being able to oppose this Amendment because it is in the students’ cars and not in a public building on campus.
Personally, I do believe that people kill people, but if a gun is in the hands of an individual who has a license to possess it when their mind has bad intentions, it can lead to destruction and chaos.
Not all college students are mature enough to hold a weapon, licensed or not, and in FIU’s campus, having a gun in your car would be the worst place to have it!
Why?
Simply because parking is chaos and finding a parking space is like finding a dime in a fountain full of pennies, or winning the lotto in Florida- one in a million, maybe more. So, if I am driving and looking for a parking space and someone else sees the same parking space, but they have the temper of a wildebeest and owns a gun, chances are I am in danger.
Believe it or not, parking is really that serious to some people; someone will shoot you for a parking space.
Having a gun in the car is just as bad as having it in a public campus building. Someone can easily wait for their target to come into the parking lot before taking a shot and robbing people will become easier because of the possession of a gun.
There is enough crime on college campuses, why add a gun to the mix? That’s really stupid.
If we allow guns in student vehicles, then people will want their guns in the dorm room, undoubtedly with a promise to keep it in their dressers.
I really believe that about 55 percent of students who carry a gun do not have bad intentions; some may really need their gun for protection against college parking lot monsters. It is the other 45 percent that concerns me and should concern you as students of FIU as well as those in government.
“It is their own personal vehicle, their own personal firearm,” said State Senator Glenn Hegar, and author of the bill, to The Houston Chronicle. “It is locked out of sight, out of mind; no one knows it’s there and it’s their Second Amendment right.”
Just because the gun is locked out of sight does not mean it is locked out of the mind, but nobody is a mind reader. Let’s not gamble with the notion that everyone has these intentions.
I believe that there is a reason for everything and the Texas Legislature passed the SB1907 law so that I can write about it and tell you, the reader, to be more aware of your surroundings, especially in the parking lot. If you see a parking space someone else may want and there are no police around, let them have it before they let you really “have it.”
Safety is the key here and I care, somewhat.
Thank me later.
opinion@fiusm.com
Sources:
1. “Bill: SB 1907,” via Texas Legislature Online
2. “Texas state legislature moves toward allowing concealed carry on college campuses,” via Red Alert Politics
3. “Houston senator declares guns-on-campus bill dead,” via The Houston Chronicle
Why is it that each time this comes up in a state, anti-rights types pretend it’s the first time this has ever come up in the history of the country.
Instead of trying to insist on law based on your own phobia, why don’t you do something we call basic research of a topic and find out if this has ever been an issue in a state where it has already been law. You have quite a few states to choose from and many years of data to sift through.
In 23 states the decision to ban or allow concealed carry weapons on campuses is made by each college or university individually: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.
Due to recent state legislation and court rulings, 5 states now have provisions allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on public postsecondary campuses. These states are Colorado, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin.
I am pretty sure the bill the essay author mentions allows for schools to opt out. This was an amendment put on it early on. University of Texas and A&M both have already said they would.
Well, Im glad to see there are still people who think guns on campus are a bad idea.
Back when I wrote an opinion article on this same topic for The Beacon (http://fiusm.com/2008/03/06/campus-gun-control-guns-pose-extra-risks-to-students-safety/), there were not as many States that were finding loopholes for campuses.
And as the former Chief of FIU Police Bill King said, ““Students having weapons on campus could make a volatile situation worse.”
Also, I just wanted to add…who in their right mind would leave a gun in a car??? I mean, car thefts are common on college campuses, they are easy targets for people who want to quickly break into a car and flee with whatever they find in it. That is all we need, people leaving guns in cars only to be stolen.
Wonderful article, you pointed out some big flaws in the pro gun logic.
Thank you, kindly!
Good points Ben. However, at VT, Sandy Hook, etc. we saw what a gun free campus can do. I like to call these places magnets for maniacs.
Then there were the incidents that were stopped by “a good guy/gal with a gun.” Unfortunately, when it is just the maniac that gets stopped the story does not go much farther. In Portland, the shooter there ran into an armed defender and the shooter ran to a nearby stairwell and shot himself. A volatile situation stopped.
Then there are your fellow students. Many of them have to walk that gauntlet late night from nearby businesses without any protection. They are made the targets for the thugs and they are just one flat tire away from a serious problem.
It also seems you must have a real crime problem on campus too. Must gun owners I know lock up their guns. Yet on your campus the police are so thin that thefts from cars are a regular occurrence. It seems to me that the campus needs more police or they should allow students with CHP.
There is another facet most non gun owners fail to notice. Many such altercations with thugs end up with no shots fired. That happened to me. When the thugs wanted to drag me and friends out of our truck the sight of that .45 made them back down.
Somebody with a CHP, given the option, is not going to shoot. The CHP holder knows they need good reason and even then its going to be very expensive.
I am glad that my daughter has her CHP. She carries (not in FL) and her boyfriend is happier for it. So am I.
well said
well said
well said
well said
well said
well said
What makes you think that only registered concealed weapon permit holders will have a gun in their car. They are the only ones who will obey the law, the negative criminal thug who goes to school doesn’t care about the law and has the gun on them, in the car, in your classroom, wherever and whenever they want. These are the people I would be concerned about, not the licensed gun owner.
What’s a college parking lot monster?
Stop trying to use hysterics to justify criminalizing citizens who trying to exercise their rights.
For the state of Texas, the DPS releases conviction rates all the way back to 1996.
In 2011, Texas CHL holders make up only 0.1884% of all convictions.
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/rsd/chl/reports/convrates.htm
“Not all college students are mature enough to hold a weapon, licensed or not…”
I beg to differ. I know hundreds of 18-22 year olds who are mature enough to operate a fully automatic machine gun. I’m sure those same men and women can safely carry a concealed weapon and not shoot each other over a parking space. You anti-gun people always assume that everyone who carries a gun has a short fuze and will shoot people over the littlest thing. If that were the case, I’d be in jail or dead by now. Most pro-gun people are extremely mature individuals who acknowledge that they are carrying a deadly weapon, and know when and how to use it. There are the select few who give people like me a bad name, but there’s people like that in every group.
I just find it extremely offensive that people like you assume that all gun owners are psychos.
I clearly said NOT all! But I appreciate your opinion, people like you make me want to write more so thank you for reading!
It’s ridiculous how you idiots never look in realty, you always look at the dark side, the .0000012% (That’s the likely hood of a law abiding gun carrier to harm someone) Utah you’re allowed, has been for a long time, never have problems at all. You just live in your own fear, your own little bubble. And when have you ever heard of a law abiding CCW killing someone over a parking spot? Are you really that much of a loon?
“There is already enough crime on campuses, why add guns to the mix. It’s just stupid” Translate:”There is already enough crime on campuses, why is adding self defense to stop these a good idea” Really? You just gave an example of WHY we need this on campuses.
I suggest doing your research before making posts, as there are already multiple states with guns allowed on campus. AND schools that allow teachers to carry (Certain schools) in Preschool, Elementary, and highschool. And they never have problems there either.
I don’t see how that .0000012% over comes the amount of actual rape, crime, and even murder on college campuses.
I’m a gun owner. When I’m in the street I avoid any type of violent or offensive argument with any one at all cost, because if I do something stupid with that gun , I will regret it my whole life. So the fact that the gun is there makes me stay away from trouble. (Makes me a better citizen??) I really don’t fear violent people because I can protect myself from their violent actions, with my gun of course.
You shouldn’t base your argument against “guns for college” in rage, because rage is every where. As human beings we feel emotions, and as functional citizen we have to deal with those emotions, not with how many bullets our magazines hold, or where can we carry and where can’t we carry.
If only there was an article that used facts and logic to debunk this column of anecdote and hypothesis.
Wait…
Found it.
http://stanfordreview.org/article/why-college-campuses-should-allow-concealed-carry/
Hats off to Mr. Jester. Your concise and refreshingly simplistic wit deserves commendation.
I believe you have forgotten one very fundamental thing:
Someone who is willing to commit a crime against another person will do so, whether or not they are legally allowed to do so. By definition, criminals are not going to follow laws. Therefore, arguing that someone who is licensed to own a firearm, and carry it, will therefore misuse that privilege doesn’t hold any water. Here is why.
1.) Even in a true self defense scenario, you will have your firearm confiscated, and chances are you will never see it again. Anyone who goes through the CCW (concealed carry weapon) permit knows this. The gun and permit are an investment that may one day save their life, or potentially the lives of their family, or others around them. It’s not something to show off or brag about. It’s a matter of life and death.
2.) A criminal can ALREADY bring a gun onto campus, or leave it in their car, or wait in the parking lot for their target. They won’t go through the painstaking (and EXPENSIVE) process of getting a CCW permit, with the intention of going on a killing spree, where they will almost inevitably lose their life and/or freedom. A law will do nothing to stop them. However, a law (allowing legal concealed carry) COULD allow a law abiding citizen to stop the aforementioned criminal. Think about it.
Taking away a citizen’s right to defend themselves from someone who will NOT follow the laws that the citizen is bound to, does not protect that citizen. Look at Amanda Collin’s case:
She was raped, under a college campus security call box. She has martial arts training. But her attacker had a gun. She was licensed to carry, but her college didn’t allow her to keep her gun with her.
“How does rendering me defenseless, protect you from a violent crime?” – Amanda Collins.
This article is disappointing on several levels. First of all, it’s a publication from a college student but the writing skill level is that of a high schooler. Secondly, the article starts out well composed with facts and citations but quickly turns into pure conjecture.
Now onto the meat of what the article is trying to get at. I can assure you that FIU is not the only college campus where parking is heinous. I’ve attended FSU and UCF and parking on either campus is a grossly unpleasantly experience. I have had my CCW permit since I was 21 and because of the laws currently in Florida, I have never so much as brought my gun onto the campus in my car. There are certainly situations that I have been in where I was unarmed for one reason or another and I have thought to myself “I’d really like to have my gun right now.” but I can assure you that finding a parking spot has never and will never be one of them.
What you, and others with like minds, fail to understand is that people who go to the trouble of purchasing guns legally and acquiring permits to carry their weapon(s) are not the people who are committing violent crimes. Criminals, on the other hand, have no regard for laws whatsoever. It doesn’t matter what it’s in reference to, they don’t care if they are or aren’t allowed to own a gun or carry a gun. They certainly don’t care if there’s a sign on a college campus that says guns aren’t allowed. That’s as good as an invitation saying “no one here can defend themselves so come on and have a nice time raping and pillaging”.
You postulate that approximately 55% of college students with guns don’t have malicious intent and while I realize that you weren’t trying to be scientific, the number is actually significantly higher.
As you can see, I’m a second amendment defender. I will say, however, that when people with a history of mental problems are allowed to legally purchase guns, the system needs to check itself.
All in all, the guns on campus debate is just so overly dramatized. The fact that you can’t even get a concealed weapons permit until you’re 21 eliminates well over half of any university’s undergraduate students.
Those who want safety and freedom deserve neither
Ummm, what? It sounds like you just totally butchered Benjamin Franklin’s quote (paraphrasing actual quote) “Those who are will to give up a little freedom for a little safety will lose both and deserve neither”
Your arguments are not back up with any data to show that people who legally carry guns will do these things. You don’t hear of it happening in Walmart parking lots, malls, gas stations, etc. Also, look at states where people can already have guns in their cars or on their person on a school campus. None of these places experience with legal firearm carriers whatsoever. None. Zero. It’s illogical to assume the opposite will happen in TX when the law goes into effect.
“Personally, I do believe that people kill people”
Where have you been since the dawn of time?
Concealed weapons holders are some of the most law abiding citizens in Texas. They represent about 2% of our population, yet less than one-fifth of one percent of crimes are attributed to them. That means that out of approximately 500,000 of CHL holders only about 120 of them are convicted a year. So instead of “I really believe that about 55 percent of students who carry a gun do not have bad intentions” how about more than 99% of them?
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/RSD/CHL/Reports/ConvictionRatesReport2011.pdf
“Believe it or not, parking is really that serious to some people; someone will shoot you for a parking space.”
Really? Because out of all of the campuses that have allowed concealed carry I have never heard of such an absurd thing happening.
Your ignorance is appalling, do some independent research.
As someone who does carry a concealed firearm and who does get extremely agitated when people act rudely and stupidly while trying to park, I might point out that I haven’t shot anyone. Ever. Not even those who have angered me the most.
And I won’t shoot anyone, ever, who is not in the act of endangering my life or the lives of those around me.
It must be difficult for you, to feel so helpless against your rage that you would imagine yourself shooting someone over a parking space.
The author sounds like the people who said there would be “blood in the streets” when the original idea of concealed carry was first proposed in various states. That hasn’t happened, anywhere.
It also appears that those who espouse the view put forth in the editorial have very little conception of what it means to have a Concealed Handgun License in the state of Texas; CHL holders are the only ones who would be allowed to have guns in their vehicles under SB 1907. First off you have to be 21 years old, which reduces the number of college students who are eligible. CHL holders have to take an extensive course and go through a very thorough battery of background checks. If state and federal law enforcement agencies trust these people to be responsible with their firearms, why don’t you? Are you somehow wiser than they are when it comes to firearms?
Another thing you’re missing is that CHL holders as a group are the most law-abiding people in this country. Statistically speaking, you run a greater risk of being shot by a law enforcement officer than by a CHL holder. That’s a proven fact. So…do you have the same fear of campus police? Of course not. Neither should you have this irrational fear of responsible, law-abiding citizens who want to be able to exercise a Constitutional right unfettered. As things now stand, CHL holders can’t protect themselves with a firearm when driving to and from campus, while they can everywhere else. SB 1907 will restore that right.
People fear what they don’t understand and hate what they can’t conquer. I am a Wildlife and Fisheries Major at South Dakota State University. Rifles, shotguns and pistols are allowed in vehicles on campus here. There haven’t been any shootings over parking spots, ever. If anything it has helped me get to class on time after hunting waterfowl, Odocoileus virginianus, Canis latrans, or Phasianus colchicus. You attribute an evil personality with mind control skills to firearms and yet not to other inanimate objects. How often do people crash their cars into others because they stole their spot? A firearm fires projectiles that travel from 700 feet per second and carry 62 foot pounds of force. A car is a 3,357 pound guided missile that travels at 110 feet per second and has 631,250 foot pounds of force while traveling 75 mph. Your fear and ignorance is not enough to trump the facts.
If I wanted to blast you in half in the parking lot (which obviously I don’t), do you really think I give a fuck if it’s legal or not? Do you think the college drug dealers/criminals/rapists/hooligans respect gun, knife laws etc? You live in a place other than reality. This is coming from a Floridian gun owning college student who understands that firearms in private conveyances in school parking lots aren’t covered under the “school facilities” definition, just legally irrelevant school policies. Grow up, people walk next to you with handguns that hold 5,10,15 even 20 rounds with multiple magazines in your grocery stores, movie theaters, gas stations, and your neighborhood two houses down. This ideology is the equivalent of the culture shocking reality that someone in your neighborhood uses a lot of drug.
Well this article is far from true journalism. It is completely biased and lacking proper references to all theories stated. Please if you will publish something for people to read please do so in an unbiased manner. You are incorrect as mentioned by someone else. This has been done on other schools in different states for a number of years.
Your entire essay is based on a fallacy: since my campus ( or any campus) is a gun free zone it guarantees there are no guns on campus. I would bet you good money there are illegal guns on your campus.
If you really believe some of your fellow students would kill for a parking space, you should be very scared. As you pointed out a person not in the right frame of mind would use a gun in this case. Why don’t you take a moment, sit down, and try to remember a person in his right mind who conducted a mass shooting. Also check into those who legally had the guns he used.
Ms. Richardson,
While I certainly defend your right to an opinion, I feel that many of your points are misguided and your wild hypothesis about shootouts over parking spaces is base fear-mongering and irresponsible.
First of all, the parking lots of Marlins Park, Sun Life Stadium, the Convention Center, and thousands of other public places can be traffic nightmares, yet there are no reports of concealed permit holders brandishing their weapons for a spot. Anyone engaging in such behavior would immediately cease to be a valid permit holder and instantly become a criminal, the very type we are lobbying for the right to protect ourselves from.
Secondly, you claim that college students are too immature to defend themselves. The State of Florida requires permit holders to be 21 years old; to have no history of mental illness, felony crimes, or substance abuse; and to be sober at the time they are carrying. How does this fit into your definition of a typical immature college student?
Thirdly, you contend that there is enough crime on college campus. I agree. In fact, from 2007-2009, there were 149 murders; 10,032 incidents of forcible sex; 14,145 incidents of robbery; and 15,021 incidents of aggravated assault on American college campuses. This only includes the on-campus crimes that were reported, and estimates indicate that 90% of crimes against college students occur off-campus. Disarming an individual on campus disarms them every step of the way back to their home.
As you have chosen to cite Texas for your examples, so will I. From 1997-2006, 1754 Texans were convicted of unlawfully discharging a weapon, and only 3 of them were a Concealed Handgun License holder, about one-sixth of one-percent. The statistics are even more striking when you examine the rampant crime rate at University of Colorado, which resisted campus carry until March 2013’s state supreme court ruling, compared with Colorado State University, where campus carry was allowed in 2003, resulting in a 47% decrease in crime.
An armed society is a polite society, and those of us who choose to carry legally and responsibly not only defend ourselves, but our classmates too. That’s part of the point of concealment-so the real criminals don’t know who is a “good” target.
Please cite an occurrence of a shooting over a parking spot. If this is as wide spread as you suggest it shouldn’t be hard.
Also, where did you come up with your 55/45 rule of ccw holders with bad intentions? CCW holders are statistically the least likely people to commit crimes. I believe the rate is under 1 percent.
Finally, you speak as if there are currently no guns on campus and that the illegal possession of a weapon is impossible. Some one that wants to rob, rape, kill, etc doesn’t care about the carry laws, they’ll be breaking them anyway by removing them from the car.
Next time you write an article please do not depend on illogical trains of thought and do some research.
This is mind boggling to me. You apparently have no problem with these individuals being licensed to carry firearms unless they happen to also be students. Where is your protest of the fact that these very same students can (and do) carry their firearms in the mall, at the doctors office, at the grocery store, and the myriad of other places you go that aren’t your home? Does the college application somehow rob these individuals of their common sense and self-restraint?
You ask why one would need to carry a gun on a college campus, well the answer is simply the same reason one might need to carry one everywhere else. The college campus is not a magical place free from violent individuals bent on doing harm to others. In fact the laws and policies that stop college students from exercising their natural right to self defense make college campuses *less* safe than other areas that aren’t “gun free.” Criminals know for a fact that the vast majority of students are carrying expensive books and technology and have been disarmed by their “betters.” The only insanity is the creation of target rich environments that more than one homicidal maniac has decided to take advantage of. It’s a lot easier to shoot up a crowd of 20-somethings when you know they can’t shoot back.
You seem to be operating under the illusion that if it is illegal to carry a gun on campus then, like magic, there will be no guns on campus. Impulsive people in particular (the kind you are afraid of) would not think twice about violating a “gun-free zone” by carrying a gun in their car or even on their person. I have known people personally who have carried a concealed gun illegally for years. My point is this: banning guns does NOTHING to prevent reckless people from carrying guns. The only thing it does is criminalize those who want to carry for lawful purposes. This legislation that was passed does not “add a gun to the mix” because guns are already in the mix.
Another thing…”Having a gun in the car is just as bad as having it in a public campus building. Someone can easily wait for their target to come into the parking lot before taking a shot and robbing people will become easier because of the possession of a gun.” Really??? Somebody is planning on committing murder and theft but they wait for their target in the parking lot because it’s illegal to carry in campus buildings? That’s about the dumbest piece of logic I’ve ever heard.
Ms. Richardson,
I don’t mean to be pandering or anything, but I’m sorry that you’ve been through such terrible parking experiences. I don’t know for a fact, but I gather that you’ve been confronted while searching for spots with such viciousness that you believe the other person would have killed you, if they had had the chance.
I would suggest to the administration that more parking be built so that the students of FIU would cease murdering each other over parking spaces.
By the way, at least here in Michigan, the state does not allow the carrying of concealed pistols in dorms/classrooms, but clearly spells out that parking lots are NOT to be considered pistol-free areas.
Want to guess how much of a problem it is? That’s right; it’s not a problem at all.
I really believe that about 55 percent of “journalists” who are anti-guns-on-campus are merely uneducated that their apparent worst fears are total non-issues in many other places; some may really have just not yet done enough reading to know that. It is the other 45 percent that concerns me and should concern you as people who expect truth and ethical conduct from journalists.
You are completely ignorant. I bet you believe that criminals and murders will obey these “no gun” zones and laws. In fact, the very word criminal probably implies a law-abiding citizen in your eyes. Here’s an idea: why don’t you try going over to Iraq or Afghanistan and tell troops, who protect your livelihood, they can’t come back to their country and protect themselves.
Oh and just so you know, that whole parking incident…just proves your inability to actually come up with a relavent example. Do some research, take a writing course, and learn a little history about why we even have the second amendment, what it means, and why it’s never going anywhere. Your editor should be fired and paper disbanded for printing this. Too bad it’s not actually printed so I could use it to clean up after my dogs.
I seriously hope this article is a satirical piece because it seems entirely removed from reality. Here is something to consider. What is going to stop a student/faculty member/whoever with evil intentions from breaking laws and carrying a firearm on campus? Are there going to be airport like security entrances with security guards and metal scanners at every campus where these prohibitive gun laws apply? Laws against carrying or processing a firearm on campus obviously didn’t prevent the shootings at Columbine or Virginia Tech from happening, so why would any campus be different? Legislation doesn’t create a magical force field that is able to keep firearms off campus. All restrictive policy making and legislation does is prevent the good “55 percent” from being able to better protect themselves from the bad “45 percent” who are probably going to carry a gun regardless of the law.
Where the hell did you get 55%? And I think criminals already wait in parking lots with guns…
Well, based on the complete lack of any data or study or survey to back up any of the assertions you made in this article, I am politely going to reject your opinion. If guns in cars equal shootings over parking spaces, why doesn’t it happen regularly at the mall or Walmart? Have a nice day.
While your opinion is valid, it is simply that; an opinion. In your opinion, 45 percent of college students would be apt to do violence with a firearm if there is one around. In my opinion, you need to seek mental help. If you actually believe over half the people you go to school with would do violence, much less behind a firearm, you have a problem. And to assume that a student would draw a gun over a parking spot is asinine. I searched for a long time looking for any evidence of violence over parking spots on school campuses, and found none. You’re making wild assumptions with no evidence. You have to realize you’re talking about college educated people here, not your everyday man on the street. I also go to college where it is difficult to find a parking spot on a daily basis. I’ve had a spot taken from me multiple times, and you know what happened? I went to the next one and walked a few extra feet. I didn’t draw my gun and shoot the guy over a couple extra steps like these psycho college students in your nightmares.
Seek a therapist before you completely lose your mind.
Thank me later.
“I really believe that about 55 percent of students who carry a gun do not have bad intentions; some may really need their gun for protection against college parking lot monsters. It is the other 45 percent that concerns me and should concern you as students of FIU as well as those in government.”
As usual, when people fear something out of ignorance, they resort to “feelings” instead of facts. On what basis do you predicate your belief that forty-five percent of student gun owners have criminal intent? If that were even close to the truth, we would also have to assume that college students are the largest group of criminals in the country.
You say you’re worried that another driver with a gun is more dangerous than the average driver and that person is actually likely to shoot another driver over the loss of parking. REALLY? Again, I’m surprised the college campuses of this country aren’t already stained red with the blood of students who slighted someone else at a dinner party or sporting event. If your fellow students are so easily incensed that having to walk from the back of the lot spurs murderous intent, your school has other, much more serious issues than whether or not law-abiding citizens are allowed to exercise their Second Amendment right.
The truth is that licensed citizens who carry concealed firearms are one of the safest groups of people in the country. Statistically, you are far safer in a room full of concealed carry permit holders WITH THEIR GUNS than you are in a room full of unlicensed citizens who say they are unarmed. That’s right: You are more likely to be shot with an illegally carried gun in the “gun-free” room than you are to be shot by a legally carried gun in the fully armed room.
Damned pesky facts. Always ruining your day.
I missed the actual example of a student shooting another over a parking space (probably because it NEVER happens). And where did 55% come from?
If someone is going to use a gun to get a good parking spot, why would they care if the law allows them to carry a gun in their car? If they are that irrational, I doubt they would care about a law to prevent them from being stupid. Of course it would be much easier to use the car to ram them and hope to injure or mame the person in the process? Why would they bother opening the gove box, pulling out a gun, loading it, rolling down the window, try to aim without a sight picture and hit the offending driver? With the cost and scarcity of ammo these days (due to other irrational fears) it would also get pretty expensive to waste all those bullets over a free parking spot (probably enough to buy a beer or two at the college pub).
Clearly this is nothing more than the author’s irrational fears put down in an opinion piece with no facts or knowledge of the subject.
As a recent graduate in a state(SC) that allows licensed carriers to leave their gun in the cars I find this argument fairly absurd. Maybe the author of this article has gotten enraged enough to shoot someone over a spot, otherwise I don’t understand how someone could think that would be a serious concern. Concealed carry is allowed many other places, most of which have parking lots, and I have not heard of any epidemic of enraged parking spot shootings much less on any campuses. There are always unstable individuals and in my opinion if you are capable of murder over a parking spot then you are more than capable of breaking a law about where you can carry a gun. As we have seen with multiple shootings, when you mentally break and become capable of taking innocent lives then no rules will stop you. No gunman I know of was talked down by telling them they were breaking the rules. They were only stopped with deadly force, the same force they were using despite every rule and taboo against it. There is a rational discussion to be had about gun reform laws that needs to happen. I think most can agree that individuals with certain histories and conditions shouldn’t be allowed to carry at college or elsewhere. This irrationality from both sides of the debate is stopping any constructive dialogue from occurring however.
College students with a firearm irresponsible? Those with a ccw are 21 as required by law. Not mature enough for you? Funny, as the federal government trusts a kid right out of high school with an aussault rifle such as the M16 and M4. Also they can handle explosive devices such as the M203 grenade launcher and AT4. You fear the idea of a 21 yr old holding a pistol, but I depend on a 18 yr old with a fully automatic rifle. Its called the military, and these young kids are mature enough to handle this much firepower, but you question your older peers? I have a ccw and have never shot anyone out of rage, I carry to protect and deter crime from my pregnant wife and 3 yr old son.
Just a little FYI, there are routinely more guns than you can shake a stick at on FIU property. This past semester I even took inventory of them. I’m pretty sure there was more firepower than campus PD could ever have in that room. Oh, and thousands of rounds of ammunition, too.
Nobody died.
In fact, nobody even knew they were present. And they were given to students.
Keep living in your little bubble of ignorance, but don’t force it on the rest of us. Since you don’t carry (or probably even own) a weapon, this issue has absolutely nothing to do with you. You will never be affected by this law.
Random thought that popped into my head reading some of the responses to this editorial: particularly the attitude that open carry laws are a solution to gun crime.
Out of curiosity, if you don’t expect a criminal to care about the consequences of breaking the law, why do you expect them to care if a potential victim has a gun or not? If they’re not scared of taking on police officers who definitely have training, why would they be scared of some random person with no way of knowing if they have training or not?
It’s not so much about the criminal being scared, or not scared, to take a person on. It’s more about that person being able to defend him/herself, on a more level playing field.
“Pressure cookers don’t kill people. People kill people.” As is quickly being shown it is the propensity towards violence and a world that finds it easy to reward those with fame and glory that is the problem. Pressure cookers were used to contain the explosives for the Boston Marathon bombing.
It is hard to believe that a college student wrote this article. Then again maybe I can believe one did.
As far as college students lacking maturity, there is a huge difference between being immature and a bent towards mayhem. My bet is that while younger college students may be a little on the immature side, it would be just the meagerest (I know its not a word, but you get the point) of few that are detached and despondent enough to be that violent.
It is this naivety, this immaturity that makes them targets of the violent. A more mature person would not walk around campus in the wee hours of the morning along beautifully groomed landscapes that afford the wolves among us to prey of them. The wolves know the hunting is great. Just position yourself between the bar and dorm and its easy pickings. The wolves know that police are few and far between.
Still if anyone bothered to do the research they would already know conceal carry permit holders are the group least likely to be violent. Those records are readily available from almost any state with a CHP program. In order to get your permit you need a very clean record. Most states (probably all) will pull your CHP on a first offense DUI.
In fact very few anti-gun groups will say that CC (conceal carry) “will bring back the Wild West” as the evidence from states with “shall issue” CHP have long shown.
Campuses only ban the law abiding from carrying guns and other weapons on campus. Thugs and maniacs have never been so encumbered. So I pose the question, “why do you want to disarm the people who are not the problem?”
Maybe you should ask one more too. If you believe your fellow students are that untrustworthy what does that say about your own moral compass?