Should Guns Be Permitted on College Campuses?

Student Opinion - The Learning NetworkStudent Opinion - The Learning Network

Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older.

Numerous state legislatures across the country, including those in Arizona and Texas, are considering measures that would allow firearms at colleges and universities. Would you support or oppose such a measure in your own state or in the state where you attend school? Why?

As Marc Lacey reports in the article “Lawmakers Debate Effect of Weapons on Campus,” many people are divided over proposals to permit guns on campuses:

Campus shootouts are a relative rarity, but they do occur. The most notorious shooting at an Arizona university took place in 2002, when a disgruntled nursing student shot three professors to death.


One student who found himself in the midst of a campus shooting agreed. “I don’t think two people having guns and firing them in public is that good of an idea,” said Nate Hightower, who was at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix in 2008 when a former student opened fire in a dispute with another young man, injuring three people.



Students: Tell us what you think about the idea of allowing guns on college campuses. Should they be? Why or why not? Would you feel safer or more at risk if you knew that professors, classmates and others might be armed? Would you yourself choose to carry a weapon if it were permitted on your university campus?

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I don’t think collages should allow guns.The kids could get hurt or get shot.

Guns don’t make places safer, but people do. I have over ten years of law enforcement experience and I would definitely carry a pistol on campus if it were not against campus policy, or state law. A properly trained, law abiding, citizen that legally possess a firearm on his or her person, and is willing to use it can make a difference in a situation where lethal force is necessary to stop an attack by a determined criminal or criminals. Why would we allow one life to perish if we could possibly prevent it from happening? The world can be a dangerous place, and yes bad things can happen on any campus, at any time.
However, in most states (possibly in all states) a person must be at least 21 years of age to even own a handgun or to obtain a concealed carry permit to legally carry a firearm. That leaves most students without the ability to defend themselves or others. Consequently, most of the people that could legally carry a firearm on campus (if the laws and policies changed) would be faculty and staff. By the time campus or local police receive notification of an active shooter and can respond to the proper location, there is a significant probability that many people will already be seriously wounded, held hostage, or dead. There are a lot of military, former law enforcement, and other qualified citizens that would also carry a concealed firearm if allowed to do so. I would feel better if I knew there were legally armed citizens on campus. Study each of the shootings at Universities across the country, and introduce a legally armed citizen (whatever your perception of an armed citizen may be) into the situations and imagine the possible outcomes(positive or negative) to those situations. Then consider any potentially real or imaginary risks of a legally armed citizen introduced into everyday situations that don’t involve an active shooting in progress. Where is the problem? I don’t see a problem, I see a solution. Bad incidents created by legally armed, law abiding citizens are nearly non-existent. This is my perception of a legally armed citizen. Not everyone that is eligible to legally carry a firearm is willing to do so. It takes a special type of person, and that type of person is willing to risk his or her life for you. They are not vigilantes, or “want-to-be cops”, or wild rogue shooters with an itchy trigger finger. The legally armed citizen is the type of person that will take all the actions necessary to discreetly carry a firearm, carefully avoid unnecessary conflict and walk away from trouble whenever possible, that will to do whatever is necessary to be prepared for a potentially lethal situation without causing a public disturbance, and to be completely safe while doing all of this. Yes-we should be allowed to possess a firearm on any campus.

Guns should not be allowed at Colleges because someone could easily take the gun & shoot someone.

NO guns should not be permitted on college grounds. If somebody just got into a fist fight they could just wip out the gun and say it was self defence, the death rate would shoot up the roof. Colleges should have more police officers and grounds people to control dangerous areas.

Why are we debating this, in most civil and sane societies there is no need to to even discuss this topic. The mere fact that we are flirting with this topic has more to do with fear and in my opinion media hype. Do we live in such a violent society that everyone needs to be strapped with a 9mm to learn. As a society we spend to much time discussing topics that are realy designed to trigger our emotions and not our intellect.

Guns should be permitted, but only to campus police. They should only be able to use them for emergencies. All guns should be locked in a safe when not in use by police.

I think we need a different plan. I think that all professors need to have a concealed carry permit and be trained in handgun use. I also think a very limited number of students should carry guns. The students that should have guns would not drink, have a girlfriend or sleep around, have one of the highest GPAs in their class, have no pervious criminal record, have a history of mental illness, and has broken school policy. Other requirements would include a lockbox for guns and ammo that only the student and the concealed permit and training in handgun operations like the professors have. The college may try to keep guns out of student’s hands but they still acquire them. Only by arming students who are ready, willing, and able to defend themselves and their classmates will the problem of campus shootings stop.


I think that guns should not let firearms into colleges and universities because students or professors could accidentally get hurt or shot even if you have the right to bear arms you should not be allowed to bear arms.

No they should not let them have guns. Thats a stupid idea.They could kill someone. There is no need to have a gun there.

I think that guns shouldn’t be on school because sometimes some people can get really angry at some other people. If I were to have a fire arm in my possession. I would have to be trained to handle one because a gun in the wrong hands can make a place much less safe. If you feel angry you should hold your emotions because if you let your emotions burst in a bad way then it might make a place dangerous if you’re bearing fire arms.

Guns should not be pemmited because they are dangerous and they could get someone hurt while there at colledge.While your at colledge you would not need a gun you would just need books and a pencil.

I am getting ready to go to one of 21 colleges I have been accepted to and I really don’t want to so to a place where you are allowed to have guns. It scares me to think of the crazy people in the world that possibly could be going to the same college as me and have a gun in their possession. Guns are perfectly fine, and I agree that a person commits crimes and murders, not weapons. But to ensure my safety and well being at college, I would prefer people not having guns.

Seriously? To quote Fleewood Mac…

“whats the world coming to?”

It most likely would end up in a bad situation consider the second reason people go to college is or the parties.

The Second Amendment gives us the right to bear arms-something I astutely support. However, I believe that carrying firearms around to classrooms, etc., is just asking for trouble. I think that most people under the age of twenty-five (self included!) are pretty much idiots, a.k.a., children, and am not ecstatic about the idea of “children” carrying dangerous weapons around. If it is allowed on the campus of the university I am attending, however, I will be one of those gun-toting kids because the world is a dangerous place, and I am hardly capable of defending myself physically, a firearm will be the only means of self-protection.

I am of the opinion that individuals have the intergral right to defend their own livelihoods and lifes in general. Because of the rampant rates of illeagal gun trade in the country, and around the world, this puts arming oneself near the top of the priority list. The ratio of sociopathic individuals with the want to lash out agianst society to the number of individuals simply wishing to defend themselves is minute, besides these individuals, as has been proven throughout the history of our country, have easy access to fire arms to begin with and can, and have, easily bypassed campus security. How many less would have died in past school shooting if students were alowed to carry firearms and were trained in their use. I would go so far as to say that possesion and training in the use of firearms should be mandated on campuss, excluding special instances.

To carry a handgun is a Privledged Right only if: 1) You are of legal age: 2) Under no disability physical or mental that prevents proper operation 3) Prior criminal records prohibits firearm possesion 4) Training for legal reasons on when to use a firearm 5) Physical training with scored targets showing proficency in firing. I have been trained by Law Enforcment Personnel and had a criminal backgroud check and approval from the Office of the Attorney General to carry. REMEMBER THE PEOPLE WHO CARRY A FIREARM FOR THE PURPOSE OF DIRTY DEEDS ARE CRIMINALS and will not follow any gun resritiction laws
anyway. Laws against guns only hurt Law Obidding Citizens, the crooks don’t follow laws. Yes I would like to carry on campus.

I am getting into college soon and i am also kinda iffy on the gun thing because why would they want to have people guns running around everywhere makes no sense to me and in my opinion theres no point in letting it happen unless you want murder to breakout…

i say no to guns on campus. i don’t want to die young and plus if a student has a gun he might blow out and kill us if he have enough ammo. if i can choose a weapon i will have a blade

I think guns shouldn’t be permitted in school campus because it wold be dangerous and unsafe to be in school…

Guns should not be allowed on any College campus. Remember that incident at Virginia Tech were the gunman went into the college and killed 21 people and commited suicide afterwords. Do any of you support that maniac! And think, if something as grusome as this can happen in Viginia, than just imagine how it would be in a state in Arizona, the place where the congressman was shot in the head but is also miraculously alive.

i dont think so. To many people are getting killed because of peoples dumb ideas.They have a bad childhood and then they take it out on everyone else.It would be dangerous and really unsafe. like at virgina tech that was so scary and sad.People kill to make them self feel better so basicly ur just askin for somthing bad to happen.

I don’t think there should be guns on collage campuses. What if someone has a fight with a student or teacher and they pull out their guns that they are allowed to have. I would feel less safe if my teachers or peers had guns. I would carry a gun if I was allowed for my safety.

If a person who owns a gun a can take to college they will .
They need more cops or let the students defend themselfs from a leathl threat.Not allowing students to carry guns wont really help beacuse the people who will bring are going to shoot someone and, there will be no one to stop them.