Although Tennessee and at least six other states have introduced legislation to loosen firearm restrictions, one currently can't carry firearms, openly or concealed, in any public or private school building or campus in Tennessee.
Utah is the only state with a law that clearly allows the carrying of concealed weapons at public colleges. Tennessee should follow Utah's lead and allow the carrying of concealed weapons at their public colleges.
Utah didn't always allow the carrying of concealed weapons on campus. In fact, the University of Utah banned concealed weapons for decades.
In 2004, Utah lawmakers looked at a shooting rampage in 1997 where a teenager shot and killed two students at Pearl High School in Mississippi. An assistant principal chased the gunman outside and held him at bay with a .45-caliber pistol he had in his truck.
Now, the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois have other states and colleges reviewing their gun policies.
In hindsight, if guns were allowed at public colleges the death toll in Blacksburg, Va. might have been lower on April 16, 2007. Allowing guns at public colleges gives an otherwise defenseless population a chance against disturbed individuals like Seung-Hui Cho.
As a society we hold that college students are mature and responsible enough to cast a vote, to fight a war, to own and carry a gun and to exercise every other right of American citizenship being exercised by other adult citizens. Then why should they be forced to go unarmed and be defenseless simply because they are at institutions of higher learning? Darren Gilbert, graduate in political scienceChristine Zabawa, a medical researcher at the University of Utah, told FOXNews.com she's happy about the state's gun law.
"What happened at Virginia Tech might have been stopped," Zabawa said.
UT student Darren Gilbert, in a letter he wrote to the Daily Beacon on February 5, argued that if students, faculty and staff have the right to carry guns everywhere else, why not allow those with a handgun-carrying permit to carry guns at institutions of higher learning?
Students, faculty and staff aren't allowed to carry guns everywhere. There are other restrictions. They aren't allowed to carry guns, even with the Handgun Carry Permit, where alcoholic beverages are served and consumed.
But that restriction makes sense. Alcohol impairs judgment, which is why Zabawa also told FOXNews.com she has some reservations about allowing guns in college dormitories.
But simply being at a public college doesn't impair one's judgment and is no different from being at a bank or place of employment.
Most students, faculty and staff against guns on campus have the same hesitation -if a seemingly innocent classmate, maybe a Cho, were allowed to bring a gun on campus, it makes people more vulnerable.
Michael Campbell stated this concern in a letter he wrote to the Daily Beacon on February 6.
"But this would put the guns in the hands of those crazy criminals since they can often be students themselves. How are we going to be able to make sure that only the right people get the ability to buy guns?"
This fear may come from a misunderstanding as to how one acquires a gun in Tennessee. Yes, it's fairly easy to purchase a gun, but those individuals who carry concealed weapons need a Handgun Carry Permit. It's only those with the permit that should be able to carry guns on public campuses.
And earning a Handgun Carry Permit in Tennessee is no easy task.
To be eligible for the permit, the applicant must be 21 years old and must pass an extensive background check. Not to mention other arduous tests and payments to receive the application and permit.
Because the process to obtain a Handgun Carry Permit in Tennessee is a rigorous one, individuals, who earned their permits, should be allowed to carry concealed guns on public college campuses.
Tennessee has already introduced legislation to loosen firearm restrictions in the state. Students, faculty and staff should write their state representatives to tell them they don't want to be defenseless anymore.
Comments
catcher freeman commented, on February 26, 2008 at 11:41 p.m.:
I have applied for a handgun permit and I agree we as students should be able to carry if we have passed the tests and taken the class. The class is not easy and with recent incidents that have occurred in the Fort Sanders area where I happen to live, not being able to carry makes us vulnerable.
I'm hesitant though because passing an extensive background test does not mean someone will not flip out and use their concealed weapon if they have a permit. There are many sides to this equation that will be weighed out and should be because safety is the key.
Once I get my permit I would want to carry my weapon however it will not be worth it if others will flip out and defeat the purpose of us carrying.
Sa commented, on February 27, 2008 at 12:33 a.m.:
With more guns circulating campuses, I will definitely feel less safe than I do now. Young people can get angry fast and some often lose their patience right away, so I do not want to know what happens when those people have a little killer in their pocket.
I just wish the whole gun situation would be completely different in the U.S. In Europe, where guns have been banned for who knows how many years, school shootings or daily shootings are almost non-existent. As long as people here do not realize that no problem can be solved as long as everybody can get a gun as easily as getting a tattoo, there will be more killings, more deaths, and more parents crying over lost ones. I just hope none of them are supporters of guns.
I guess bills such as these quickly pulls this country back to the Wild West.
AJC commented, on February 27, 2008 at 8:16 a.m.:
Sa,
Think about Europe and alcohol... since citizens under 21 can drink, statistics show Europeans drink moderately and don't abuse alcohol like Americans.
I think the same would follow with guns. If we outlaw guns completely, they'll just go underground, and those buying them will abuse them.
Kingfish commented, on February 27, 2008 at 9:19 a.m.:
Tell you what. You find 5 incidences where a holder of a Tennessee handgun carry permit "flipped out" and killed someone with thier legally carried firearm and I will sign on to your "wild west" theory.
I will save you the trouble though. You will not find them. That's right 10+ years and ~200,000 permit holders and a ZERO percent homicide rate.
OhMy commented, on February 27, 2008 at 11:22 a.m.:
Ever hear the best offense is DEFENSE ?! Prepare yourselves and practice for emergencies. Drawing a gun is never the answer in a crowded lecture hall, classroom or meeting place. Unfortuneately one can never prepare for all contingenies BUT we can give some heartfelt thought to the possibilities. A family's anguish will be no less if the shot fired was aimed at the intruder.
Sa commented, on February 27, 2008 at 1:41 p.m.:
I am not only focusing on Tennessee. I am sure we all know that anything can happen in any state at any time. But just because Tennessee has a "clean' record does not mean it can happen. what is the bigger risk? Let's say, 5 people carrying guns on a campus, or 100?
DHE commented, on February 27, 2008 at 1:57 p.m.:
I agree with the article. Granted, a student could go insane at any point, but that risk occurs at banks, shopping centers, and other public areas. What makes a school any different from those areas? It will not put shootings at schools to a halt, however, the chances of a mass murder such as the Virginia Tech shooting, will greatly be depreciated because students will have the chance to protect themselves and the lives of others.
DHE commented, on February 27, 2008 at 2 p.m.:
And to comment to Sa. Not having the ability to legally carry a gun onto a college campus by no means prevents shootings. In Tennessee, anyone over the age of 18 that can pass a background check is eligible to recieve a firearm. This means that anyone can shoot up any place, at any time.
Darren Gilbert commented, on February 27, 2008 at 4:21 p.m.:
It never ceases to amaze me how these "anti-gun nuts" ... who are against law-abiding, legal, concealed-carry permit holding adults exercising their Second Amendment rights to defend themselves from armed assailants ... always have to resort to highly emotional, Quentin Tarrantino style, non-fact based, hypothetical worst case scenarios to argue their side.
They continue to do this in spite the fact that the preponderance of statistical evidence points the other way. I guess "anti-gun nuts" strive to "never let the facts get in the way of a good story."
Bob commented, on February 27, 2008 at 5:19 p.m.:
That's the problem with the mentality in this country as well. All the "pro-gun nuts" always and only go back to the Constitution, which unfortunately is sometimes seems a little too outdated to move along with time.
I'm sorry but someone being punched in the face rather than shot in the face is more likely to survive. It's not always bullets for freedom, right?
Sa commented, on February 27, 2008 at 5:26 p.m.:
Last time I checked, every shooting is horrific, unjustifiable and gruesome. There is nothing Quentin Taratinoesque about it. Guns increase the risk of death everywhere sure, and I am not only talking about a campus. Illegal firearms are available everywhere, but countries with gun control at least do not deal with that amount of violence. There's a fact too.
Austin commented, on February 27, 2008 at 5:30 p.m.:
Sa, if 100 people carried guns on campus there would never be a mass shooting. That doesn't mean there would be no shootings, but VT and NIU wouldn't have gotten out of hand. I mean you understand the concept of being able to SHOOT BACK, right?
Bob, if guns are taken away from regular citizens, the only people with guns would be those that are most likely to use them...criminals. That's just the cold, harsh reality of the situation.
Bob commented, on February 27, 2008 at 5:34 p.m.:
Sure, it's is a desperate and hopeless reality. But why getting more guns out there?
Bob commented, on February 27, 2008 at 5:35 p.m.:
Concept of shooting back, yeah, as they did in the Wild West:) Duels at UT...
Dan commented, on February 27, 2008 at 5:37 p.m.:
I can see both sides. But then, how about making it way harder to get a gun? Enforce some laws or come up with some concept that would not in any way allow a mentally ill person to easily get hold of a gun in a gun shop... maybe that would help a little. Isn't that were the last shooters got their guns from?
Sa commented, on February 27, 2008 at 5:40 p.m.:
Well, I guess we then have to wait and see if bills such as these really reduce the risk. I just hope those who will shoot back won't miss.
Ashley commented, on February 27, 2008 at 5:42 p.m.:
Dan,
I addressed that issue in the article (see above). Those with a history of mental illness won't pass a background check, making them unable to even purchase a gun in Tennessee.
It is a rigorous process to obtain a Handgun Carry Permit in Tennessee. Check out the state's web site for requirements...I linked it above.
Dan commented, on February 27, 2008 at 5:43 p.m.:
Sure, maybe in Tennessee, but I am talking in other states, or every state basically.
Mike commented, on February 27, 2008 at 5:56 p.m.:
Great editorial! I wrote a similar one months ago after the Virgina Tech shootings. Here's a good point about a 2002 shooting at Virginia Appalachian School of Law that I read on a news site I often visit:
Paul Joseph Watson of Prisonplanet.com wrote, “Peter Odighizuwa shot three people dead before other students were able to retrieve guns from their cars and put an end to the carnage before there was more bloodshed. Over thirty victims at VA Tech … were denied that right as a result of a campus gun control law that helped the shooter pick off his targets at will”.
Sa, here are some statistics on gun bans that I included in a letter to the editor of a local paper:
"In Washington DC, Great Britain, and Jamaica there was a gun ban and crime shot up. The National Center for Policy Analysis reported, 'In 1976, Washington, D.C., enacted one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Since then, the city's murder rate has risen 134 percent while the national murder rate has dropped 2 percent'. In 2001 the BBC reported, 'A new study suggests the use of handguns in crime rose by 40% in the two years after the weapons were banned'. Last, attorney and author Davis Kopel reported that after Jamaica had imposed a gun ban in the early 1970s the crime rate went down after the first six months, but as the years passed the crime rates 'were at double and triple the levels which had inspired this kind of crackdown in the first place'. These are but a few examples. With a little more research one can see the same results in New Jersey, Hawaii, Canada, and Australia."
Bob commented, on February 27, 2008 at 6:11 p.m.:
And as we speak - 4 shot dead in bristol...
Shane commented, on February 28, 2008 at 9:19 a.m.:
Question for everyone against campus carry.
Exactly how often have you ever witnessed, or even heard of, a student in class suddenly going crazy and acting crazy during class?
I mean, what most of you are suggesting is that allowing CCW on campus means that a person with a gun could just go crazy, stand up, and start shooting everyone. While this is always a possibility, and certainly one of the many risks we take just by being out in society, I wonder just how often a perfectly normal, rational person just snaps, out of the blue, and starts murdering people. They way everyone talks about this fear makes me think that it is common for students to just snap like that?
Except I spent 10 years in college between my BS and my MS and working for the campus, and I never once saw a student just up and lose it, because it is very rare for a mind to snap.
What is much more common is a slow, obvious, downward spiral with lots of warning signs that friends and family choose to ignore, or that are not seen because the student isolates themself.
Maybe you could all take a moment to just think about how unlikely it is for a perfectly normal person to snap without warning, and then you'll see guns are not the problem, but rather, the problem is that people are terrified to get involved and get their loved ones help before they become self-destructive.
Darren commented, on February 28, 2008 at 9:39 a.m.:
And ... while that is tragic, taking guns from responsible concealed-carry permit holders would not have stopped that criminal in Bristol from shooting those 4 poor people.
A survey conducted in 1993 by Florida State University criminologist, Dr. Gary Kleck, and his colleague, Dr, Marc Gertz, shows that American civilians commonly use their privately-owned firearms each year to defend themselves against criminal attacks, and that such defensive uses significantly outnumber the criminal uses of firearms in America.
The survey shows that American civilians use their firearms as often as 2.5 million times every year defending themselves during a confrontation with an armed criminal, and that handguns alone account for up to 1.9 million defenses per year.
Dr. Gary Kleck is the author of "Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America."
ParatrooperJJ commented, on February 28, 2008 at 10:25 a.m.:
Virginia also allows concealed carry at universities.
Darren commented, on February 28, 2008 at 10:47 a.m.:
Actually, Virginia does not! In January of 2006, the Virginia General Assembly shot down a proposal to allow concealed-carry holders to legally carry concealed firearms on campus. Tragically, this was not too long before the awful massacre occurred.
It is also interesting to point out that Jason Kenneth Hamilton, the man responsible for the deadly shooting spree in Moscow, Idaho, was a card-carrying Aryan Nations member and had an extensive criminal history in Idaho, Arizona, California and Oklahoma, including arrests for violent crimes, domestic battery and drugs.
To illustrate how well "strict" gun control laws work, it should also be noted that Jason Hamilton was licensed by the federal government to possess fully automatic weapons, including a military-style machine gun and also had a concealed weapons permit in Latah County, despite a domestic violence conviction that should have barred him from owning guns.
Relying on the police, state law, and the federal government to protect you is an exercise in futility. Strict gun laws are broken every day by criminals, and criminals do sometimes squeak through background checks because the agencies performing them fail to use due diligence.
Only "you" have the ability to truly protect yourself or your loved-ones, that was one of the driving forces behind the Second Amendment.
Those who argue that the Constitution is out-dated (usually meaning ... the Second Amendment) fail to understand that if the second Amendment can be called out-dated, the same argument can be made by someone else for any of the other amendments. If one fails, then they all fail.
straightarrow commented, on February 28, 2008 at 11:12 a.m.:
Actually Darren, you are mistaken. Virginia law does allow the carrying of firearms on college campi. The bill that was defeated just before the VT killings was a pre-emption bill that would have disallowed college adminisrations from banning firearms from their environs when the bearer was legally entitled to bear arms.
As the situation remains today Virginia allows the carrying of firearms on university grounds. It is school policy that prohibits it. The defeated bill was an attempt to deny universities the right to set that policy thereby negating the benefits of concealed carry. The bill failed and colleges are still free to set policy as regards the carrying of firearms on campus, which makes VT administration an accessory to Cho's misdeeds, albeit an involuntary one. They can not be censured for his first victim, but by number 31 it should be obvious that it was their policy that empowered Cho to wield such deadly and indiscriminate force.
Darren commented, on February 28, 2008 at 3:54 p.m.:
actually, straightarrow ...
You are right and I stand corrected. See, contrary to popular belief, I am not infallible.
John Hardin commented, on February 28, 2008 at 4:15 p.m.:
Shane sez:
> Exactly how often have you ever witnessed, or even heard of,
> a student in class suddenly going crazy and acting crazy
> during class?
You're ignoring the effects of the Evil Mind Control Rays that guns emit. Once you strap on a gun, it's only a matter of time until you crack and start shooting at random, no matter how stable and responsible you otherwise are.
Shane commented, on February 29, 2008 at 2:20 p.m.:
Oh crap, I forgot about those, thank you John! Another few minutes and I would have left the house with my sidearm and risked shooting up a kindergarten class because of the evil mind rays.
Comebackkid commented, on March 4, 2008 at 1:06 p.m.:
I am split in the center w/the handgun carry on campus or not. I have a TN handgun permit. The firearms class makes you fully aware of the liabilities of this responsibity. These permits are not passed out like peppermint candy. If ever in a situation of making a quick second decision to aim and fire your weapon, you are not given the "gift" of time to decide whether to fire or not. Under pressure, you do not have the luxury of taking your time, as is the case on the firing range, and perfectly aiming and firing. Until you are in a situation, where no one ever wants to find themselves, you can't say how you would react.
I took the class to learn'GUN SAFETY" because this is first and foremost and keep the gun to protect my home, not so much as to carry and conceal. The reason for this is that most people with handgun permits are not excellent marksmen, because you only have to pass the firing part of the training on the first attempt. This makes a place such as a college campus very vulnerable to mistakes because after the permit is received, most people do not go back to the firing range for additional practice to make their aim as accurate as possible. I know, because honestly, I am one of them. Now, those are the bare facts.......
Mike commented, on March 5, 2008 at 5:22 p.m.:
Darren said: "To illustrate how well "strict" gun control laws work, it should also be noted that Jason Hamilton was licensed by the federal government to possess fully automatic weapons, including a military-style machine gun and also had a concealed weapons permit in Latah County, despite a domestic violence conviction that should have barred him from owning guns."
Horsepucky. You are more infallible than you ever imagined. What happened in Latah Co., ID, was a complete breakdown of the process of probationary supervision.
Casey Rose commented, on May 20, 2008 at 3:56 p.m.:
If you went into a room and every person there had a gun on there person and knew how to use it, every one in that room would be very careful as to not tick off the other people in the room.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life" 'Robert A. Heinlein' 1942.
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin 1759.
"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference-They deserve a place among all that is good." George Washington.
"You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the great struggle for independence." Charles Austin Beard 1874-1948.