This whole University of Utah gun debate is getting ridiculous. The U is claiming that by allowing people with conceal/carry permits to carry weapons on campus, that academic debates will degenerate into gunfights. According to them, allowing legally-concealed weapons will stifle opinions, and cause professors to quit their jobs. I don’t know about anybody else, but I know that I wouldn’t hold back my opinion just because there might be somebody somewhere on campus with a legally-concealed weapon.
Then there’s this quote from a proponent of the gun ban: “You are just one state away from Columbine. You would think a word to the wise would be sufficient.” According to this guy’s line of reasoning, your chances of being shot dead at school has a direct relationship to your proximity to Columbine High School. In fact, why bring up Columbine at all? Were concealed weapons allowed there before those two kids shot the place up with their illegally carried weapons? Sounds pretty ridiculous to me.
They said the same thing about traffic accidents when concealed carry started to become reality in several states.. something like “if you allow people to carry concealed weapons, minor fender benders will turn into bloody gunfights”…
Yeah, so far that’s happening all over the place. The only thing that concealed carry permits cause is less crime!
While you have some valid points, I feel allowing any firearms at any learning facility is just plain bad. I do not believe weapons should be mixed with education anywhere except in the military or a police academy. I think also that allowing concealed firearms will cause violence. While debates turning into ol’ Western gun-slingin showdowns is very, very unlikely, we can’t predict what will and won’t set off people to pull out a handgun if they have one available with them. I would feel unsafe if there could be people at my college with handguns. That Colorado comment was probably made just to scare idiots. More school shootings happen in urban environments than in suburbs such as Colombine.
I wish there were more studies and less opinions. It is so hard to debate something with so little research behind it.
There’s the saying, “If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.” Regardless of whether or not firearms are allowed on campus, those who would carry them illegally will still do so. I would feel unsafe knowing that criminals are carrying guns, while I, the law-abiding citizen, cannot do so.