2008 Woodie Awards
To carry or not to carry: that is the question
The Traveler Editorial Board
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Opinion
Many arguments have been made regarding whether college students or faculty should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus. Upon looking at all of the evidence available, however, the Traveler editorial board has to side with the flower-power peace movement of the '60s.
Although we must take into consideration, as students and citizens, ways to protect ourselves in dangerous situations, the solution is certainly not carrying guns on campus.
College campuses are safe havens - or at least they used to be - where students can learn from others and express their opinions openly. They're simply not the place to be carrying weapons and constantly fearing for our lives.
Although we don't like it, we admit our world is changing and turning into a scary place where we can't even walk down the street without that small feeling of fear in the pits of our stomachs.
And carrying a gun on campus - or knowing that someone in your 300-student lecture classes has one - might help alleviate these fears for some people.
However, that same feeling of fear might return at the thought of someone you don't know carrying a gun and sitting behind you, next to you or even in front of you - teaching.
Do you really want to live in a society where fear dominates every aspect of your daily life and every decision you make? For example, let's say a guy is pursuing a girl, but she might not have the option to reject him anymore for fear of being shot. Or teachers might not have the option of giving bad grades because they fear their students could pull a weapon. These thoughts are too traumatizing to comprehend.
The side that argues that someone having a gun at Northern Illinois University or Virginia Tech University would have been able to stop the shooters before they managed to do so much damage seems like a valid point.
However, in Arkansas, only a small number of people have the permit to carry a concealed weapon, said Lt. Gary Crain, public information officer for the UA Police Department, according to today's front-page article in the Traveler.
Although we must take into consideration, as students and citizens, ways to protect ourselves in dangerous situations, the solution is certainly not carrying guns on campus.
College campuses are safe havens - or at least they used to be - where students can learn from others and express their opinions openly. They're simply not the place to be carrying weapons and constantly fearing for our lives.
Although we don't like it, we admit our world is changing and turning into a scary place where we can't even walk down the street without that small feeling of fear in the pits of our stomachs.
And carrying a gun on campus - or knowing that someone in your 300-student lecture classes has one - might help alleviate these fears for some people.
However, that same feeling of fear might return at the thought of someone you don't know carrying a gun and sitting behind you, next to you or even in front of you - teaching.
Do you really want to live in a society where fear dominates every aspect of your daily life and every decision you make? For example, let's say a guy is pursuing a girl, but she might not have the option to reject him anymore for fear of being shot. Or teachers might not have the option of giving bad grades because they fear their students could pull a weapon. These thoughts are too traumatizing to comprehend.
The side that argues that someone having a gun at Northern Illinois University or Virginia Tech University would have been able to stop the shooters before they managed to do so much damage seems like a valid point.
However, in Arkansas, only a small number of people have the permit to carry a concealed weapon, said Lt. Gary Crain, public information officer for the UA Police Department, according to today's front-page article in the Traveler.
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 6
Adam
posted 4/10/08 @ 11:06 PM CST
These concerns are legitimate, but I look at the University as a microcosm of a larger community. Statistics consistently and repeatedly bear out the fact that allowing law-abiding citizens to carry firearms results in less violent crime. (Continued…)
B-man
posted 4/10/08 @ 11:11 PM CST
"Upon looking at all of the evidence available, however, the Traveler editorial board has to side with the flower-power peace movement of the '60s."
Gee, there's a shocker. (Continued…)
Phillip
posted 4/11/08 @ 3:46 AM CST
Before I begin, I would like to disclaim myself as a person who has always considered himself pretty liberal, and I have never owned a firearm in my life, though I have shot them. (Continued…)
Samuel Keane-Rudolph
posted 4/11/08 @ 9:50 AM CST
The Traveler has looked at the evidence?
What evidence did you look at?
Certainly none is presented. Just a lot of 'what if' scenarios that are both self-contradictory and read like the talking points from the Brady Campaign. (Continued…)
David M. Bennett
posted 4/11/08 @ 10:26 AM CST
"A shoot-out is better than a massacre!"
T.
posted 4/11/08 @ 10:40 AM CST
I have my concealed carry permit, and I don't think this article fairly covers everything that is required to get one. I had to go to a class with a licensed instructor for 8 hours. (Continued…)
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