Colorado State University was one of the few University’s that allowed concealed carry weapons on campus. That was until 2009 when a ban was set on concealed weapons on campus. CSU faculty board voted 7-0 to ban concealed weapons on campus. Even with the Student Association vote of a 21-3, the ban was till set. Colorado State University (CSU) allowed students with concealed weapon permits to carry on campus in 2003. There are many arguments out there about concealed carry on school campuses. There will always be the question, if teachers were allowed to conceal carry at Columbine High School or students at Virginia Tech were allowed to conceal carry, would have there been fewer casualties? This question cannot be answered. There are schools that do allow students or faculty to conceal carry, which it is argued that the crime in those schools are low and there has not been any school shootings. The reason I am interested in this article is because I am a concealed weapon carrier, and believe that colleges and universities should allow concealed weapons on campus.
The author argues that concealed weapons do belong in schools. The author explains that the state of Utah prohibits schools from banning concealed weapons, which means that public schools allow concealed weapons on campus. Utah has not had any deaths caused by guns on a school campus, other than suicide. The author uses an example of a shooting at a mall in Salt Lake in 2007. The mall was a posted gun-free zone. The shooter was taken down after killing 5 people by an off duty police officer who was carrying a firearm. If that off duty officer was not carrying a firearm, how many people could of died? Knowing that the mall was a gun-free zone makes it an easy target. The shooter knows that nobody will have a gun to stop him and he can kill unarmed people. The author uses another example in Texas passing a law allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons. With this law in place it eliminates shootings at the schools. This law allows the teachers to protect the students a lot more. As the author said before, knowing that the school allows teachers to carry a concealed weapon makes the school less of a target. The author provides the readers with graphs of the crime rate at CSU. In 2003, CSU allowed students with concealed weapons permits to carry concealed weapons on campus. It was expected that the crime rate would skyrocket. As the graphs show the crime rate going down significantly. Crimes such as sexual assaults and aggravated assault on campus. The author concludes that concealed weapons do belong in schools and concealed carry does not lead to Wild West shootouts and random guns fights.
On the opposing side of the argument say that having concealed weapons on campus can make a distraction for the students. What if a student gets a hold of a teacher’s weapon? Students are human, they get upset and angry. Having a concealed weapon and being angry with another student is a bad mix, its like putting gas on a fire. The opposing side says that the less weapons on campus, the less chance of a shooting to happen. The author responds to these arguments by bringing up schools in Utah and how there has not been a school shooting in any Utah schools. He also brings up the crime rate decrease at CSU after 2003 when students were allowed to carry concealed weapons.
The author tries to keep the readers for concealed carry on campuses and to bring in the readers against concealed carry on campuses. The author first starts his article with the facts of the change of concealed carry on CSU campus. As said before, the author gives two examples of a shooting at a mall in Salt Lake and a law that passed in Texas that allows teachers to conceal carry. He gives these examples to help his argument. These examples show that conceal carry will lower crime in schools and could prevent a lot of deaths in a public shooting. The author also provides graphs of crime rates in CSU in his article. These graphs show the crime rate drops after allowing students to conceal carry on campus in 2003. These graphs help the author’s argument by showing the readers that allowing students to conceal carry will prevent crime on campus and could save life’s if a shooting did take place on campus. The author also states his personal experiences with carrying a firearm into elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges and universities in the state of Utah. He states that he has carried a concealed weapon on school campuses in Utah and did not have to turn around and take his weapon back to his vehicle or break the law by carrying the weapon. He also states that he has never gone crazy and started shooting just because he is on school property.
In this article the author argues that concealed weapons should be allowed at schools. The author is a concealed weapon carrier and has carried his weapon on school property in Utah, where schools cannot ban concealed carry. The author believes that concealed carry at schools have the benefits of reduced crime and the ability to protect yourself and believes that every school in the county should allow concealed firearms. The author uses the schools that do allow concealed carry as an example why concealed carry is a good idea for schools. There has not been an shooting in any of the Utah schools. The author believes that if a school allows concealed carry then the chance of a shooting is lowered extremely, and if there is a shooting then the casualties will be minimal. CSU was one of the few that allowed concealed weapons on campus. In 2009, the CSU school board voted 7-0 on a ban of concealed weapons on campus. CSU first started to allow students with concealed permits to carry on campus in 2003, the crime on campus decreased over the next few years. As a concealed weapons carrier, I too believe that concealed weapons should be allowed on school campuses. It would reduce crime on campus and allows the students to protect themselves. Just because someone has a weapon does not mean they are going to start shooting everyone.
CSU Bans Concealed Carry
By Robert G. Heinritz, Jr.,
WWW.youcancarry.com
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