Before I enter the "Semi-Rant Zone," here's a news article that should catch you up to speed if you didn't know what was happening/happened/whichever. (For the people of the future)
"Bills would allow guns at college"
OK, I'm all for safety when it comes to a madman on campus with assault rifles, but this has to be one of the stupidest ways to prevent it (Note: "one of", give me time and I'll think up of more stupid ways). Are these people thinking in the least of what the consequences are? Let me list some of the ones I can think of (That means both good and bad).
First off, if allowed, this would mean that just about anyone could walk on a campus and go unnoticed for a long amount of time (unless we up police/security personnel). The only indicators of the person being a potential threat is if they seem unnaturally nervous for a college student/professor or someone recognizes that they are not a student/professor. Already I have turned this into a fear fest' for those in favor of the bill, but be silent and sit back down until I'm done, please.
The second consequence is that in case there is such a shooting, there will be a minimal loss of life (I see the bright side of things don't I?), maybe. First factor in that guns versus guns typically ends up being a 50-50 chance of you surviving and wounding/killing the attacker. Fists versus guns... Yeah you're screwed, provided that no one else is around you and the gunman is just randomly gunning people down (Never said this was going to be pretty). In a group (large, hopefully) the best option is to listen to the gunman if he is taking hostages (Hopefully) or if they are randomly gunning people down, rather than wait to be shot (provided police aren't there or won't arrive in time) rush them and stop them before even more are harmed.
Gah... This is coming out more like a survival guide, rather than an editorial. Using this moment, let me explain my reasoning for my survival instructions.
Firstly, this bill/idea will not end the shootings. It may deter people who are not willing to go up against an armed group, which is the idea, however those who are crazy/suicidal enough will have no qualms and in fact may do this simply because of the damage it could cause (Meaning more than now).
Secondly (continuation of the "Second consequence"), these people probably don't care what they're aiming at, while you do. Despite needing a license/permit (To be honest, I don't know how you acquire one in Texas) to carry a gun, you may not be able to shoot another person, even in self defense. This causes a problem, either you won't shoot (effectively making the gun useless in your hands) or you will, and not aim at the person in an attempt to scare them which hits someone else, though unintentional. Unless you can use a gun properly, meaning aim and can shoot someone intentionally without mental trauma, this is a losing situation.
Finally, why give us guns? Couldn't we just find some way to up all campus security? Though we are the masters of our own domains, most of us couldn't defend ourselves properly. And though I may be able to say what I think is a good way to defend myself and others, but there is always another way to do things (Meaning heed my advice, but talk to a professional for better ways).
To finish, I care about the lives of others (I may never seem like it though) and to be honest I hope a bill like this will never pass until it is absolutely needed. If you want us to be safer, invest in mental health research and more police officers (who are competent). Prevent the problem from reaching us before we have to deal with the bloody mess.
Fast forward five years from now. A troubled student has had a lapse in judgment and has chosen to inflict harm on other students by going on a shooting spree. Fortunately for that Texas campus, another gun toting student is there to stop him using deadly force and save the day. Hollywood has painted a noble, yet very unrealistic scenario; one that would be nothing short of a fairytale if such a serious situation was to occur yet again.
ReplyDeleteThe blogger of "Blue in a Red Sea Makes Purple Waters" feels that it is very much a poor decision by the Texas Legislature. Many Americans feel that they have a right to carry armed protection and in light of many recent tragic events, perhaps rightly so. I don’t feel however that this right should be extended to Universities across Texas and couldn’t agree more with the commentary on this article. Have we really grown so fearful that we have lost our inability for reason? Allowing guns on campus would be nothing short of a revisit to the old fabled Wild West when everyone including grandma carried a firearm. The author is correct in thinking that it should be up to the Campuses and local officials to provide adequate security. We place our trust in the hands of these professionals on a daily basis and at the same time would ask that anyone bearing arms to also step in and risk their life to diffuse a situation.
Such tragedies often happen few and far between. It’s a shame when they do happen, but the worst thing we could do is to allow ourselves to be given a false sense of security. If such a bill were to pass, I would feel no safer at school than today.
Over the past couple of years the number of shootings on school campuses has increased dramatically. Although compared to the college shootings in the past the recent shootings have caused relatively low amounts of deaths when compared individually(with the major exception of VT). These college shooting have become much more frequent and slightly less deadly because not as much planning have been put into the attacks(When compared to attacks like Columbine). One would think that the logical choice is to arm the people too defend themselves, but as this article points out we should leave that to the professionals. Arming students and professors is just a terrible idea, do we really want to allow a bunch of irresponsible and easily angered people carry guns on campus??? Now I'm not saying all students are like this but it only takes one to start a mass of shooting. Besides what if a madman comes on campus and shoots a student, another student shoots the perpetrator, and then a third student sees the perp get shot and thinks the "hero" is the madman. It would just start chaos that would rapidly spread and likely end in a greater tragedy than if the law enforcement stepped in.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Mr. Galloway's post and Mr. Coronado's commentary that the peace keeping should be left to the people who have qualified for the job, been trained to handle extreme situations and have proven that they are trustworthy. And if such an event is occurs under their watch its their job to figure out what went wrong, how to fix it and too never let it happen again. And if they cant adequately protect the students we need to find someone who can! If this bill passed I would feel less safe on campuses, because of the knowledge that almost anyone can have a weapon.