Allow Guns on Campus: "Gun-Free Zones are Killing Zones"
Lawmakers in New Hampshire will vote in January whether to continue to allow colleges in the state to ban guns on campus. Well, one Republican legislator is going public with his stance -- guns do indeed belong in schools.
Weapons are currently banned on all campuses of the University System of New Hampshire, and the system would like to keep the right to regulate such matters but lawmakers may take that decision away.
The Associated Press reports that in an email to university officials and his fellow legislators, Rep. Mark Proulx said banning guns is a fatal mistake:
"For people that are supposed to be so smart, you never learn from history. The history lesson you should have learned is that gun free zones become killing zones. These killing zones are the places that crazy people who are looking to make a name for themselves go.
"I don't want to see anybody get hurt. When we tell people there are no guns there, that's where people will go."
He repeated the old argument that an armed student could stop a mass shooting. However anti-gun activists say it is rare, if it has ever happened at all, that a mass shooting has been stopped by an armed citizen.
University system Chancellor Edward MacKay wrote to lawmakers last week, saying more guns will lead to more shootings:
"We host thousands of young people who are continuing to learn and mature. Introducing weapons of deadly force into a milieu where impetuous behavior can sometimes take place is, in my opinion, dangerous and potentially catastrophic. College years are often among the most volatile periods in a person's life and if guns are present, it is much more likely tragic incidences could occur."
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There is already considerable empirical evidence that allowing guns on campus does not pose a problem what so ever. There are, last I checked 71 campuses(I believe that number has risen recently) that allow concealed carry on campus, some for more than 5 years. With a grand total of ZERO crimes or accidents involving licensed firearm carriers. That crime figure not only involves firearms crime, but any and all crimes. Once again real world facts trump all of the fear mongering, what ifs, hypotheticals, emotional regurgitation, and outright lies.
The PTB need to ditch those psychological demons that prognisticate "what if?" scenarios without any evidence to support them.
Two things are apparent: Young adults who can by law vote and serve in the military are, by default, entitled to full recognition of their constitutional rights. If a person qualifies under state law to be issued a carry permit, they have met the burden necessary and should not be arbitrarily denied their rights.
Any permit holder should be permitted to carry anywhere on campus if the weapon is concealed and never produced unless and until life-threatening circumstances merit its use. Those parameters are present everywhere else; there is no legitimate reason why they shouldn't apply to college campuses.