NATIONAL NEWS — What is more terrifying than a school
shooter? Not one, but an entire lecture hall of armed and potentially deadly
students. However, many groups nationwide have responded to recent school
shootings by advocating a stronger presence of concealed weapons on campus.
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is one such group
that advocates changing gun laws at the state level.
The number of recent shootings has only added fuel to the
guns-at-schools fire, which was reignited after the Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and
shootings last year. Many states have attempted legislation that legalizes guns
at colleges, and in
now legal to carry concealed weapons on all public campuses. Luckily,
— which doesn’t have any such legislation on the table and has some of the
country’s strictest gun safety laws — isn’t about to open this can of worms.
But schools in
and
everywhere with the exception of
of
can carry guns, are setting a scary precedent for colleges nationwide.
And with similar legislation pending in 10 other states, the
atmosphere at campuses across the country might be very different this time
next year.
Supporters of the movement to legalize concealed weapons on
campus argue that it will make students safer when faced with a shooter. They
will be able to defend themselves, say proponents, rather than be sitting
ducks. But universities are not a place for firearms, and by allowing all
students to carry guns, those schools are opening their doors to a greater risk
of abuse.
By filling a lecture hall with well-meaning, gun-toting students,
schools are increasing the access a student with dangerous intentions has to
weapons.
While groups like the SCCC are surely advocating what they
feel will best protect students, this seems to be a case of “the best laid
plans.” In fact, the best way to protect students is to address the underlying
problems that prompt school shootings in the first place.
The argument over measures that allow students to carry
concealed weapons is a moot one — no matter what the decision, this debate
addresses the symptom, not the disease.
Like sitting in an oatmeal bath to treat chicken pox, even
the best-case scenario for a room full of concealed-weapon carrying students is
still a sloppy, short-term fix. And what happens after the commotion clears and
the hypothetical shooter has been shot by a student carrying a concealed gun?
Even with concealed weapons on campus, the potential for school shootings still
exists.
The only way to protect against school shootings is to help
students who feel that this is even an option. Clearly, anyone who is willing
to open fire on his or her peers and teachers — often, random bystanders the
shooters don’t even know — is in an extreme state of desperation. Instead of
channeling energy into forming groups and lobbying state governments, concerned
students should call for better mental health help at their own universities.
Suicide is consistently the third leading cause of death in
young people and a 1997 study reported that firearms are used in about 19,000
suicides annually. Translate this to the university — where many students
experience bouts of depression and undergo huge life changes, such as moving
away from home for the first time — and these tragic shootings come as less of
a surprise.
But arming students is not an appropriate solution. And
schools like UCSD that aren’t in states dealing with such legislation can still
take a valuable lesson from the terrible school shootings. Good mental health
services and outreach for troubled students should be a top priority at schools
across the nation.
Students should forget extreme measures, and states should
forget dangerous legislation — the only way to stop school shootings and save
lives is by making the multitude of healthy options clear to desperate
students.
