In the past few years, university shootings like the ones at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University have been placed in the national spotlight and have forced security officials at educational institutions across the country to re-evaluate their emergency response safety procedures. In response to these concerns, there is a growing initiative among university students and employees across the country calling for the right to carry a licensed concealed weapon onto their campuses. While standing helplessly as an armed assailant guns you down is a scary thought, adding more weapons into the equation is not a viable solution.
Concealed carry activists argue that to acquire a permit, weapons-users must go through an extensive background screening and training process. While it is true the licensing process is rather extensive, the fact remains that these individuals don’t go through the same kinds of high pressure response instruction as law enforcement officials. Any of these essentially amateur gun users might put other individuals in the area in greater risk if they pull out a gun and return fire at an attacker. In that type of situation a bystander’s risk of getting wounded is compounded, and instead of eliminating potential danger, the peril is increased.
Prohibiting firearms in a university setting has nothing to do with our individual liberties or the Second Amendment right to bear arms. For the same reason it would be an outrageous security risk to allow citizens to carry concealed weapons in a state capitol building or a courthouse, so would it be unreasonable to permit gun users to bring guns into buildings of this institution. N.C. State property is held in the same regard as government buildings and because of that added protection we are a lot safer on campus.
Ultimately, the right to carry concealed weapons is not going to solve our security problems. The truth is that violence begets more violence, and we are not going to eliminate attacks on campus by allowing more individuals at this University to carry deadly weapons. The “Wild West” mentality of shooting the villain before he can shoot you doesn’t translate well to real life, and having a CCW permit doesn’t necessarily make someone responsible.
