Blog 4 - Sources

I have chosen to write my second assignment on campus gun rights.  In our state, anyone over the age of 21 can apply for a concealed weapons permit.  Actually receiving the permit is an entirely different story, but it gives the holder permission to conceal a handgun on their person.  Currently, even people that have gone through the rigorous process of obtaining a concealed weapons permit are not allowed to carry their firearm on ASU’s campus.  Since I have started my research, many of the resources I have found are very opinionated on the matter.  They are somewhat backed by facts, but mostly contain the personal feelings of the author responsible for the article.  Although I respect all of their opinions, I would have to disagree with the most common opinion, which said that concealed firearms should not be permitted on college campuses.  The main argument given against allowing permitted users to carry firearms was that we cannot trust belligerent, drunk, drugged-out college students with weapons.  According to that logic, I should not be allowed to drive a car because some of my peers drive recklessly, or perform many other tasks that I am deemed responsible enough to partake in.  Firearms are used in personal defense over a million a year, while less than 1% of the weapons are actually fired.  One of the other more prominent arguments was that a student carrying a firearm is not formally trained in how to handle it and could possibly injure bystanders in a firefight.  While this may be a possible situation, the latter involves a criminal doing whatever they please without any opposition.  In the Virginia Tech shooting, the criminal committed suicide as soon as he was faced with any sort of resistance.  A qualified student with a concealed weapons permit would have been able to provide that resistance.  I do agree that carrying a weapon is an incredible responsibility, but we should not need to give up our right to self-defense as soon as the invisible border of campus grounds is crossed.