Letter: Bringing More Guns on Campus To Make it “Safer?”
February 19, 2009 • By Letters to the Editor,
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I was shocked after reading the article about demonstrations held by JMU’s College Republicans and Students for Concealed Carry on Campus during Gun Rights Week. These re-enactments, aside from being disrespectful to the families and friends who lost loved ones during the Virginia Tech shootings, prove nothing about the benefits of having armed students on campuses. It’s impossible for mock shootings to accurately portray what the student response would be in a real-life situation.
Obviously students taking part in these demonstrations this past week knew how the scenario was going to run and already knew how they were going to respond.
A college campus should be a place where students feel safe and able to focus on their education. Wondering whether or not the person sitting next to you in class has a gun is not conducive to a healthy learning environment. Just because someone owns a gun doesn’t mean he or she is trained in responding to all types of situations. Allowing more guns on campus to make it “safer” seems counterproductive. More guns on campus means more opportunity for violence.
I think it’s important to look at the root causes of this issue. Maybe we should be asking ourselves, “Why is it still so easy for anyone to purchase a firearm without undergoing a background check in the state of Virginia?” Or, “Why are students turning to gun violence in the first place? What are ways in which we can prevent troubled individuals from resorting to violence?” Allowing students to carry concealed firearms on campus would not solve the greater underlying issues.
Jamie Carayiannis
Junior studio art major ,
Member of Students For Gun-Free Schools
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