Allowing college students, professors, and other college employees to carry concealed weapons on campus

Various incidences of mass shootings in learning institutions have stirred the gun debate with the issue of carrying concealed weapons on campus being in the limelight. Traditionally, concealed weapons have been banned in schools and college campuses. However, different state laws and institutional policies allow people to carry guns on campus. For personal security and public safety, college students, professors, and other college employees should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus.

Allowing the faculty and students to be armed on campus has the potential to ensure a safer community. It is no doubt that most of the past mass shootings in schools have been deadly in the United States. Carrying concealed weapons could prevent such instances of mass shootings in addition to other violent crimes such as rape and aggravated assault against people in the campus environment. Previous cases of violence show that active shooters tend to attack gun-free environments where victims are highly vulnerable (Cunningham 19). At the same time, most violent criminals always have weapons. Therefore, students and faculty are entitled to the right to arm and defend themselves against gun-wielding criminals.

Carrying concealed weapons could help prevent violent crimes such as mass shootings. Attackers considering perpetrating a public shooting spree would be discouraged from attacking campus environments where they stand a chance of being confronted by armed people. Also, evidence shows that police investigate a crime after it has taken place and lives have been lost. Rather than relying on uncertain police response in emergency crime situations, armed students and faculty could deter criminals from perpetrating crimes on campus. Most importantly, the right for responsible and licensed individuals to carry weapons is enshrined in The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution (Cunningham 21). Therefore, there is no reason why these individual rights should change when one enters the campus environment. 

However, there are risks to allowing concealed handguns on campus. For example, there is a danger of increasing the chances of ordinary confrontations among students and faculty escalating into deadly feuds. With people carrying concealed guns, there is a likelihood of disagreeing parties engaging in a public shootout sometimes on the basis of trivial quarrels. According to Cunningham, making weapons more available on campus could make common disputes, acts of hostility, self-harm, and reckless behavior more deadly thereby making faculty, student, and staff less safe (20). In the same regard, institutions such as college campuses perhaps have many individuals struggling with mental health conditions such as stress and depression and so it is a risk to allow them to carry concealed weapons (Gaines and Miller 30).

There is also the likelihood of making unarmed students, faculty, and staff feel less safe in an environment that is supposed to guarantee safety for learning purposes (Cunningham 23). Unlike in occasional incidences of unexpected attacks on learning institutions, having many armed people in a campus environment may inspire a constant feeling of vulnerability and fear on unarmed people because there is a possibility of a shooting happening anytime. Also, dangerous people could acquire weapons and pose a danger to the public in campuses. Even people with the legal right to carry concealed weapons are likely to commit gun-related offenses.

In conclusion, concealed weapons should not be allowed on campus because they would not make the learning environment safer. Guns are not suited for learning and work facilities, and it is the work of trained police officers to prevent crime and apprehend criminals. Moreover, with many people possessing concealed weapons, it would be difficult for police to distinguish between assailants and good people when responding to violent shootouts in campuses.