Comments on: More guns in the hands of college students is just the ticket!

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:53:32 +0000

I apologize for the grammatical errors in my previous comments. My passion was high and wanted my thoughts to be submitted quickly.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:47:37 +0000

The problem is not guns. The problem is our society. People are blaming inanimate objects. I would like to have bans on forks, spoons, and soda bottles because they are making America fat and unhealthy. I do not want people to have access to these THINGS!! We need to hold individuals accountable. When we hold society accountable for one persons actions we are sending a message to go out be stupid and it’s not your fault. You more then likely will spend the rest of your time in prison out of the world you already didn’t know how to live in. The vast majority of gun owners are law abiding citizens. If some one could not use a gun they would use something else. 9/11 hijackers used boycotters and they killed approx. 3,000 people. You may say ohh that was terrorism and they were terrorists. Well Va tech guy was braking the law so he was a CRIMINAL obviously he was not law abiding just like the terrorists thats why we call them criminals and terrorists. We do not live in a perfect world but we do have it better then most. You want to get rid of guns GREAT get rid of the worlds guns. IF you don’t someone will have an unfair advantage. Those who are on the bottom will do whatever it takes to get to the top and that is called history. If you get rid of one of the ten amendments in our BILL of Rights those rights are worthless, then where are we? Hold individuals accountable mass punishment does not work.

By: mike

mike — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:40:20 +0000

The pro-gun folks believe, or at least claim to believe, that more guns makes for less gun violence. I don’t buy it, I think it’s a dreadful mistake to continue allowing gun availability to increase.

Thanks for posting about this.

By: Another Damned Medievalist

Another Damned Medievalist — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:53:54 +0000

I always wonder about how that works on campuses with childcare centers, because even in states with the least restrictive concealed-carry laws, there is usually a provision to keep them off K-12 campuses and preschools. So, if a college or university has one of those, or is located within a certain distance of one, how does that work?

Also? when I taught in WA, it always freaked me out that students could carry weapons, if they had permits, but as a state employee, I couldn’t (not that I would have), because state workplace laws forbid that!

By: Historiann

Historiann — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:42:38 +0000

More strict state gun laws don’t seem to necessarily result in fewer mass killings. I don't agree if we look at it on a per-capita basis. It sure seems like there have been a way disproportionate number of mass shootings in the pro-gun access Western states like CO, AZ, UT, TX, and in the Southeastern states like Virginia and Alabama. It's not an urban/rural thing, either--I don't recall any mass murders in New Hampshire, Vermont, or the Dakotas recently. (I realize there may be some regional bias here--since I'm in the Mountain West, I probably know about a lot of smaller, low-victim count incidents out here than in the Northeast.) Everyone knows about Columbine High School in 1999, but there have been dramatic gun massacres or attempted massacres in this state almost every year I've lived here: the crazy gunman who was killed in the Colorado State Capitol building on his way to the Governor's office in 2007, the New Life Church shootings 2007, the hostage/murder of Emily Keyes in 2006, and so on. That's a pretty impressive rate of mass homocide or attempted mass homocide for a state with only 4 million people in the 2000s.

By: FrauTech

FrauTech — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:11:40 +0000

Pretty sure there are states already (Utah?) where concealed carry is allowed on campus. More strict state gun laws don’t seem to necessarily result in fewer mass killings. I still don’t see why we don’t start implementing psych tests in order to get a handgun license rather than trivial background testing and then trying to control hardware. Seems bassackwards.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:35:03 +0000

It's already happened here. A court here has ruled that unis can't restrict people with concealed carry permits from bringing their guns to campus. (Realistically though, it's all an imaginary debate unless they put metal detectors and security detail at every building entry and exit on campus. Even if they "banned" guns, what's to stop someone from violating the ban?)

By: Notorious Ph.D.

Notorious Ph.D. — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:08:21 +0000

And yet Texas is thinking about extending their concealed-carry law to college campuses. Nice.