Would Allowing Students to Carry Weapons Make College Campuses Safer?

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The prevalence of alcohol and drugs on college campuses is a prime reason to keep guns out. Binge drinking is highest among 18-24 year olds. Illegal drug use also peaks during these volatile years. Both activities are common among college students. For example, according to a new study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, “[n]early half of America’s 5.4 million full-time college students abuse drugs or drink alcohol on binges at least once a month.” For college gun owners, the rate of binge drinking is even higher – two-thirds. Of course, both drug and alcohol use greatly increases the risks of injury to users and those around them. Alcohol, for example, “is involved in two thirds of college student suicides, in 90% of campus rapes, and in 95% of the violent crime on campus.” Almost 700,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted each year by another student who has been drinking. If guns were involved, those assaults would be much more likely to be fatal. Guns, alcohol, and drugs have proven to be an extremely dangerous mix.

There is also a strong connection between gun ownership by college students and an increased likelihood to engage in dangerous activities. Two studies of college students found that those who owned guns were more likely than the average student to:

    • Engage in binge drinking,
    • Need an alcoholic drink first thing in the morning,
    • Use cocaine or crack,
    • Be arrested for a DUI,
    • Vandalize property, and
    • Get in trouble with police.

Moreover, the students that engaged in multiple dangerous activities on this list were even more likely to own a gun. Gun ownership was also significantly greater among college students who had either been injured in alcohol-related fights or car accidents than students who were not injured at all. The researchers concluded that “college gun owners are more likely than those who do not own guns to engage in activities that put themselves and others at risk for severe or life threatening injuries.” In addition, substance use, school problems, and perpetration of violence have been significantly associated with gun-carrying adolescents.

Colleges and universities have many programs in place to address drug and alcohol abuse, but it is unlikely that campus drug and alcohol problems will be eliminated any time soon. Therefore, it is even more critical that schools be able to ban or tightly control firearms possession and use by students. A binge-drinking, drug-using student is dangerous enough; let’s not give him or her a gun.