Should College Employees be allowed to Carry Concealed Weapons on Campus? (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Subject Date Should College Employees be allowed to Carry Concealed Weapons on Campus? The topic of whether firearms should be permitted on university campuses remains controversial. One side views concealed weapons as vital to personal freedom, with the other perceiving armaments as instruments for violence and mayhem. While guns may enhance safety, firearms should not be allowed on campuses since such weapons can potentially turn academic, social, and political interactions into lethal incidents. Formal groups that support conceal-carry argue that the practice would increase campus safety. Their major philosophical premise is that self-defense is a fundamental constitutional right that should not be negotiated just because someone is on a college campus (Arrigo and Austin 124). Faculty and university students, therefore, need to carry weapons for self-protection, especially given that history has revealed that the police cannot provide adequate protection from potential attackers. Advocates of guns on campus contend that assailants would be less likely to commit violent crimes if the attackers are certain that the targets are armed. Stating that colleges often provide open environments with invisible boundaries and inadequate prevention measures, gun advocates argue that many of campus crimes would be avoided if concealed guns were more readily available (Carothers 13). However, groups opposed to concealed carry say that having more firearms on campus would not prevent the rare campus shootings. The reason is that the mentally unbalanced and suicidal individuals who usually commit such crimes are less likely to think about the consequences of their actions. Proponents of concealed carry believe that prohibiting guns on colleges would present burdens to college occupants, who are law-abiding but would not keep weapons away from criminals who do not usually apply for permits. Groups that support permitting weapons on campus postulate that declaring institutions of higher learning gun-free zones cannot work to protect staff and students (Arrigo and Austin 128). Instead, stickers on universities written “no guns allowed” serve to inform criminals about the absence of defensive instruments. In any case, it has been said that there are no real risks in permitting weapons on campus because only licensed and legally-armed individuals would be allowed to carry. However, limiting campus weapons to individuals with gun permits would not address the problem since the permit holders may not be law-abiding citizens (Carothers 13). Besides, permit holders do not always undergo law enforcement training, increasing their chances of missing their targets, particularly in crowded classroom and panic situations. The main arguments opposing guns on campus are based on academic autonomy and academic freedom. According to Carothers, universities, and colleges, being safe grounds for learning, are likely to be endangered by the presence of lethal weapons (17). The result would be the detraction of open discussions about critical issues and a healthy learning environment and obstruction of dialogue for fear of victimization. Furthermore, allowing college staff and students t...