Pro-gun Advocates and Concealed Carry
Pro-gun advocates believe that as law-abiding citizens, people should have the freedom to own, transport, and use handguns. The act of carrying a gun covertly or openly, either on one's person or at close range, is known as concealed gun carry. There are carry concealed weapon (CCW) laws in the USA, although not all of the firearms covered by these laws are lethal. All 50 states have enacted laws allowing people to carry certain concealed weapons without restriction, either with or without a permit obtained from a specific government authority. For a concealed carry gun to be operational, it must meet certain conditions such as; Simplicity of use, comfortability, steadfastness, and power. This essay will focus on the concealed carry debate by Dr. Kim Grieve and Michael Suing about campus violence.
Controversy on College Campuses
State administrations nationwide have reexamined the proper course of policy arrangements to discourse the subject of violence on college campuses in current years. Some advocated have necessitated weightier guidelines to bring to light the danger of firearm vehemence on institutions of higher learning. However, other advocates support the possession of these weapons by students for self-defense against various menaces. The controversy, in this case, lies on the extent to which these carry artilleries would interfere with the welfare of individuals on campus. Considering also the CCW laws permit individuals to take armaments except in high schools, sanatoriums, and government institutes.
Protests against Concealed Carry on Campus
According to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus, about 370 colleges and campuses from 42 states have protested against secret carry on campus. Kevin Kruger stated in a joint statement printed in 2014 that representing over 50,000 undergraduate affairs supervisors and instructors, and over 2000 colleges, they stand unified together with NASPA in contradictory with statutes that consent legal ownership of firearms except by police officers or sanctioned academic programs (Suing).
State Laws regarding Weapons on Campus
The National Conference of State Legislatures in 2013 shows that 19 states initiated laws that would have permitted carrying of weapons on campus. American Association of State Colleges record that 23 states leave the decision of such a permit to individual schools. In 20 states, the law prohibits these arms in campuses while grants the same in 7 counties including; Mississippi, Wisconsin, Kansas, Idaho, and Colorado. The critical question of whether these weapons provoke the occurrence of violent crimes remains unanswered as states deliberate on the concealed carry legislation. Birnbaum in his 2013 article of "Ready, Fire, Aim: The College Campus Gun Fight," states that the deliberation is extensively conceptual and conflates the issues of the CCW dogmas on security in higher learning institutions (National Conference of State Legislatures).
Conclusion
The board of contention lies in the irony that legislation deliberated by elected leaders is in places where the existence of firearms would cause great mayhem and further add to insecurity on individuals who need protection against them. In my opinion, allowing concealed carry armaments in campus is entirely unacceptable. There is no advantage since students end up using this paraphernalia carelessly and inappropriately, which in turn creates more harm than good. Whether it is for self-defense or not, the authority should abolish all laws that make right possession of firearms and the school administration in collaboration with the government should take the responsibility of safeguarding the students in teaching organizations.
Works Cited
National Conference of State Legislatures. Guns on Campus: Overview. 5 MAY 2017. http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/guns-on-campus-overview.aspx. 30 OCTOBER 2017.
Suing, Dr. Kim Grieve and Michael. The Concealed Carry Debate. 15 MAY 2015. https://www.naspa.org/rpi/posts/the-concealed-carry-debate. 30 OCTOBER 2017.
