Concealed weapons not a good answer
In this country, the usual reaction to horrendous events like the Virginia Tech massacre is to come together as a nation and mourn the loss of innocent victims. But this phase quickly passes, and within hours there are those who are eager to point fingers and place blame.
Just days after last month's shootings at Virginia Tech, I noticed a number of classmates joining Facebook groups supporting concealed weapons on campus. Their argument is that if more people have handguns, then the good guys (with guns) will be better able to stop the bad guys (also packing heat).
Many politicians share this view, including Governor Rick Perry of Texas (yes, that's right, the same upstanding citizen who made headlines after accepting $6,000 in campaign contributions from Merck, and then ordering that all Texas sixth grade females be required to get the human papilloma virus vaccine Merck manufactures) who was quick to offer his solution to end gun violence: more guns.
After a meeting with Michael Leavitt, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, to discuss how to prevent mass shootings and improve school safety, Perry said he thought Texans should be allowed to carry guns everywhere, including bars, churches and schools.
Under this theory, the argument is that some armed hero may have been able to thwart Seung-Hui Cho's killing fest in Virginia before he murdered 32 others and then turned the gun on himself.
Of course, in most places this hero would have to possess a permit to carry a concealed hand gun. Here is where Perry's argument breaks down: according to a search of online court records by The Roanoke Times, none of the 51 people who were killed or injured at Virginia Tech had a permit. Interesting. The "good guys," in this case, didn't want to carry guns on or off campus.
And then, of course, there are the numerous reasons why colleges are one of the dumbest places imaginable to allow guns (probably third in line behind bars and casinos. Okay, and brothels. Brothels are really not good places for guns, either. But anyway...).
Allowing guns on campuses would likely lead to a number of unintended consequences. (Yes, I know the Mormons out in Utah are allowed to carry guns on campus, but come on, they're Mormons. They don't count.)
More guns on college campuses means more guns in the hands of reckless kids who are often just out of their teens. Their hormones are raging, and a lot of them are experimenting with drugs and alcohol-possibly for the first time.
I'm not saying that every college student is incapable of responsibly carrying a weapon, but I think that an increased number of guns on campus is ultimately a horrible idea.
Alcohol is a huge part of the college culture (again, excluding those Mormons), and I think it would be best to avoid allowing a stocked gun closet in the Kappa Alpha house after Clayton and Bart share a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon and eventually get into a heated argument over who has a bigger lift on their fire engine red luxury edition F-eleventybillion-50s.
And even if they're in a peaceful, drunken setting, guns and alcohol still don't mix. Accidents always happen, and more drinking means more accidents. When guns are involved, these can be deadly accidents.
In addition to the homicides that would likely follow a change in firearm laws on campus, the 24,000 annual suicide attempts by college students would likely be much more deadly. If every depressed freshman knew there was a Glock 9 mm in the next room, my guess is that most suicide attempts would become suicide fatalities.
With alcohol aplenty, hormones raging, and the stress of a college curriculum, allowing more guns on campus would likely result in more, rather than fewer, campus deaths.
Those few lives that could be saved in the event of a terrorist attack on campus would probably be greatly outnumbered by those killed by guns in homicides, suicides and accidents.
